American Nazi Party Badge

[flinteruk]

I know these are well copied , had this knocking around for some time so lets find out for sure !! :-)

[flinteruk]

extra pic

extra pic

[redwolfhollow]

I have only seen the repro version of the stickpin in hand. It had no stippling under the enamel and the thick, clear-coat appearance of modern pieces. To my knowledge, no one has any info on Apollo Jewelry.

Barry

[Br. James]

According to Scott Freeland on page 272 of his major 2011 work on this subject, "They too were Americans: The German-American Bund in Words, Photos and Artifacts," this badge is an often-faked piece. It is patterned after the badge produced for those who attended the last national leadership convention of the Bund held in Chicago in October of 1941, though this badge is of a different shape and coloring from the 1941 original.

As a footnote on a footnote, "The American Nazi Party" was the organization founded by George Lincoln Rockwell in 1959 and had no ties to the "Amerikadeutsche Volksbund" led by Fritz Kuhn from 1936-41.

Cheers,

Br. James

[Duzig]

Hello,
I believe I've read before that apollo jewelery company was a known producer of american bund items like this badge.
Duzig(Bill)

[Jo Rivett]

These Apaul-O badges have been shown many times on WAF, yet never really talked about at all. So will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Some links: Thread 1 | Thread 2 |

[flinteruk]

badge

Thanks so far guys , lets hope someone here knows about these little studied items. I will list it on E Stand if gets passed as ok.

[blackbird939]

Well I have been watching these too. A few appear every now and then but I wouldn't say they're common. I finally bit the bullet and bought one from Butschek. He's a good guy and a dealer I trust. I liked how his had an interesting pin shape, a bevelled outer obverse edge and dual stippling techniques. Also has a very crisp makers mark. Has the flecks of non white enamel i see on known good party pins. Traces of a gilt wash in places visible under magnification.

About the pin: Notice how it sticks straight out, then tapers to a point below the pin's lower edge then straightens out where the knurl begins? This is not typical repro pin in my sole opinion. Please note: I have no proof that real ones had this setup or if it was ever a real badge at all. Also, I've seen a few obvious modern fakes with swivel pins but not the stick pin. If you ask me: "what is a typical repro pin?" I'd simply reply that this pin is unique in my ~200 stickpin collection. You may have fakes with this pin - I've never seen it.

The stippling in the center of the pin is dotted while the whole outer pin's texture is like ripples on water. A lot of extra work for a faker? Hardly visible without magnification.

The quality of this one is consistent with other american made enamel pins from the 40's that my grandmother(the american red cross). Not as nice as the German pins but better than modern pins. Again, not an argument for originality, just an observation.

I hate to say something is genuine just because its not like other fakes, but in his case, if this IS in fact a reproduction, it's less common perhaps.

Before I'm flamed or scolded by anyone(JF), I want to stress that I'm only posting personal feelings about this pin with no science at all.

[blackbird939]

Here are other views.

[Jo Rivett]

.....Traces of a gilt wash in places visible under magnification.

......

Before I'm flamed or scolded by anyone(JF)....

LOL, no, not me. Images say 1000 words really, and sometimes it is best for us to just observe them, and not try and read too much into them other than what they are telling us. Thanks for the large center image, you read my mind with that image, and couldn't have posted a better one.

One observation though. None of the examples shown online were ever galvanized (silver washed), incl. yours. Not that this has any bearing at all on a badge either being a period piece or not, it is just an observation. I dont know what you are seeing under magnification, but certainly not traces of silver wash. The rather bold markers details on the reverse show this straight away, as they contain so many corners and places that the silver wash, IF it was ever applied, would never had physically come into any contact with either clothing or handling. and would only be 100% non present on the reverse IF it was extremely heavily worn, and the raised details worn down, visibly worn down. But as you will see from every online image, the reverse is brand spankers. The image of the badge that Das Reich sold here on WAF a few years ago is possibly the best example of this. (LINK)

As far as authenticity goes, i dont need to chirp in. The huge image you showed of the center, speaks for its self.

[Jo Rivett]

Weitze has one listed (überraschung!) at €400.- same as all those shown here. maybe someone would like to grab images for this thread?

https://www.weitze.net/detail/32/USA...V__196932.html

[flinteruk]

nazi american

I may be wrong but doesn't Blackbird's description say GILT wash and not silver wash ?

[Jo Rivett]

I may be wrong but doesn't Blackbird's description say GILT wash and not silver wash ?

Whether he meant gold gilt or silver gilt is immaterial, it has not been galvanized at all. What may well have happened to them, judging from the image of the badge that was sold on the eStand here, is that they were coated with a layer of varnish, or in German zaponiert. It looks very much like it indeed. Yes, varnished, then back into the oven for a quick burn, and thats why you get your brown shiny patina on the reverse.

In any case, a discussion should not be about if they were galvanized. because although with the eye we can see that they never were, it is also immaterial, as Period badges were a mix of both, sometimes galvanized, sometimes not. It would all depend on the maker, the workshop, and many other factors. This would surely have extended across the pond too with US makers at that time. Technology being evenly spread around then, not like today with some countries leaps & bounds ahead of others in the machinery dept.

It does help to gather images, like i mentioned in my previous post, if, that is, people really want to clear this matter up once and for-all. The more images you have, & links, and the more you see, well, sometimes this way you can start to see a pattern forming... and in the end, what starts out as a "Ultra rare badge" that "..i have never seen one before." of, starts popping up out of the ground at an alarming rate. Otherwise all you are going to get is a dead-end discussion like the rest of the short threads about this USA badge on this forum.

For my salt, i am pretty sure that the shown badges in this thread, were indeed made in the USA. No hints on when though, that will come in due time

[Wood]

While I don't know whats real or not. Yet. I wouldn't want one of the stickpins shown so far, in my collection. Any chance of a real close up picture of your badge flinteruk so that we can see the surface of the enamel.
Pete

[flinteruk]

any better ?

best I can do