Pioneer of Labor badge - opinions please

[CrisH]

I hope this is in the right forum, Please let me know your opinions on this being good or bad and a value. I have not found any details from searches about markings or otherwise. I have seen a few pictures in a couple differrent books and it seems to have the details, but I have an untrained eye. Thanks in advance for your help.

[CrisH]

back side

[tgn]

Rudolf Souval postwar catch...not much hope for this one.
Tom

[Adrian Stevenson]

I would agree with Tom's observations.

Cheers, Ade.

[Don Scowen]

Me too, sorry.

Cheers
Don

[Stan]

Pioneer of Labour

This badge is a copy. There were only a total 18 badges awarded to 1st May 1944 and only 2 have surfaced in the past 60 years. Both were hallmarked '900' and had a horizontal pin.

There is also a version sold which is not hallmarked and has a horiziontal pin and a makers mark "o". I believe this to be post-war.

If you want to see an original piece look on Nordheideversands website under "Archive". You will find one under the Civil Awards section. Alternatively, Adrian Forman shows an original piece in his book "Guide to German Third Reich Awards and their values".

Stan

[CrisH]

Thanks for the replies. I suspected that it was too rare to be the real deal. But one can hope. I had found a color picture in an old book "Nazi regalia" by Jack Pia, and a black and white in an old German collector book, but neither one showed the reverse. Only other thing I found was that it was issued twice a year to people like Porsche.

It has a nice weight and feel to it and seems to be quality made. What do you think would be a good price range for it as a reproduction "filler" for someones collection. Thanks again for your time gentlemen.

[Stan]

Pioneer of Labour

I think that you will find that this badge was only awarded ONCE a year. It was indeed awarded to industrialists such as Porsche, but also to workers such as Schwarzer (watchmaker) and Kusters (lathe operater).

I suppose that a 1960's Souval piece could be worth around $100 to someone who wanted to fill a space. Personally, I prefer to own only original pices.

Stan