Adolf Hitler award badge NSDAP gold party pin - odd engraving font

[Br. James]

Yes, a beautiful large Deschler; congrats! The date is an odd one for the AH Honorary GPB...most were awarded and dated on January 30th. Any idea who received this gem?

Br. James

[all1knew]

so do we all think the engraving is period done or no?

Are there any entries for dates after the 30.1.43 badges were given out? Any others listed before May of 1945?

and what is the value of a normal full-size AH honorary NSDAP gold party badge? Was $6,000 too much to pay for this one?

William Kramer

[Br. James]

According to the list of AH Honorary GPB awards published by Klaus Patzwall, this date does not exist. That being said, we understand that a small number of Honorary GPBs were presented by Hitler over the years to a variety of visitors at the Berghof and elsewhere, if Hitler was pleased or impressed by that person. Obviously, since there was no way of anticipating whether Hitler would give an Honorary GPB to a particular person on a particular date, the badges he gave out were undoubtedly blank on the reverse and were probably engraved later on, if at all...though the style of individual engraving and whether or not a specific badge was ever engraved remains unknown. Certainly such ad hoc presentations never got recorded onto the lists that were maintained of AH Honorary GPB recipients...the great majority of which were recorded on the lists kept as of January 30th of each year.

Patzwall's published list includes approximately 900 entries on 28 pages and the only award I found there as dated after 30.1.1943 was the one made to Luftwaffe Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim, dated 30.1.45. (With such a number of entries to scan by eye, I could have missed something...) As we know, von Greim flew into and out of besieged Berlin on April 26-28, 1945 at Hitler's request for the purpose of promoting him to Generalfeldmarschall, so why Hitler would have given von Greim his Honorary GPB three months earlier is unknown!

There is no way of establishing whether $6,000.00 was "too much to pay" for this particular badge, especially since the recipient of this piece remains unknown. Most of the numbered GPBs don't fetch that kind of money, even if the awardee is known; only a very few GPBs held by the most well-known/notorious Nazis who received the numbered gold badge would be worth that kind of money. And since this badge displays a date that is not even recognized as one on which the Honorary GPB was awarded, and since there is apparently no provenance which would give some degree of weight to the value of this badge, it is entirely up to a would-be buyer as to whether this badge is worth that amount -- or ANY amount!

Br. James

[JoeW]

According to the list of AH Honorary GPB awards published by Klaus Patzwall, this date does not exist. That being said, we understand that a small number of Honorary GPBs were presented by Hitler over the years to a variety of visitors at the Berghof and elsewhere, if Hitler was pleased or impressed by that person............................................ .......
Patzwall's published list includes approximately 900 entries on 28 pages and the only award I found there as dated after 30.1.1943 was the one made to Luftwaffe Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim, dated 30.1.45. (With such a number of entries to scan by eye, I could have missed something...) As we know, von Greim flew into and out of besieged Berlin on April 26-28, 1945 at Hitler's request for the purpose of promoting him to Generalfeldmarschall, so why Hitler would have given von Greim his Honorary GPB three months earlier is unknown!.......................................... ...............Br. James

Br. James, you forgot Rendulic (19.9.44) and Donitz (30.1.44) but perhaps they were only noted in the text and not in the list? I can't recall and don't have the book in front of me.

[der-hase-fee]

so do we all think the engraving is period done or no?

No telling, but if research finds proof that 15. May 1943 was an award date, then chances would increase drastically.

and what is the value of a normal full-size AH honorary NSDAP gold party badge? Was $6,000 too much to pay for this one?

If that's what it's worth to you, great ! I'd prefer a numbered and attributed one over an honorary GPB. Remember Sauckel's ? Came with the gold DAF pin for $5,000 plus fees - a bargain.

[Br. James]

You're absolutely right, Joe -- both Dönitz and Rendulic are there in Patzwall's pages. My only caveat is my side note: (With such a number of entries to scan by eye, I could have missed something...). I obviously did miss these two!

Cheers, friends,

Br. James

[der-hase-fee]

Beautiful period badge , William ! Pretty cool you came across one with your birth date on it , no idea you were 73 ! Good score . Thanks for posting it.

They appear to try to enforce rather strict rules regarding use of their pictures:

All Photographs & Text on this site are Copyright and may NOT be copied without written permission!

GOLD PARTY BADGE OF THE NSDAP, SPECIAL ADOLF HITLER AWARD FOR 1943 WITH UNIQUE DATE.
This is an example of the very rare Adolf Hitler special award honour gold party badge with his AH initials and date of the award to the reverse side of the badge rather than the standard type with the owners party membership number, this example is even more unusual as it features a unique presentation date.This is a large 30mm example, the obverse side is the standard format of gilt oakleaves wreath with enamel NSDAP badge to center which is in perfect condition. The reverse side features the military style pin and hook and is marked GES GESCH in a box with air vent hole, below this is the unique date 15.5.1943 with the AH initials, most of the specially presented Adolf Hitler gold party badge's will have a January 30th award date, it is very unusual to see a different month and day date and probably less than 5% will feature this.The date possibly refers to a military event, a meeting with Adolf Hitler, promotion or a Birthday but i have not been able to identify which, the Warsaw Jewish ghetto uprising was crushed and the survivors surrender on the 16.5.1943 so that might be significant. Further research is required to hopefully identify the original owner and it will certainly make an interesting reserch project. Other than the date this is a standard example of the special AH award badge and it is in superb condition. [Condition: Near Mint]
Code: 33822 Price: 5000.00 GBP

[jimmy72]

Not sure why you quoted me on this copyright thing but since they were already provided in the context of this thread , they got bumped. Free advertising really as it is a beautiful period badge .

[der-hase-fee]

For convenience and because I like your contribution.

[jimmy72]

For convenience and because I like your contribution.

Well if goons from the Old Brigade show up on my doorstep , William is going straight under the bus !

[jujuy]

what a collection of different smg on this pic.

that would be most interesting but would it say he was awarded this type of AH honor badge in his research file, or how would I go about linking the original owner to this piece?

William Kramer

[all1knew]

Now here is another variation of engraving style that was on the e-stand. An authentic badge but is the reverse period done, perhaps by a jeweler? Certainly not very uniform in font. This exact example is shown on the Gold Party badge site in the attachments section.

William Kramer

[Br. James]

Hi William:

"...how would I go about linking the original owner to this piece?"

As I see it, the ONLY way any particular AH Honorary GPB can be linked to a specific owner is through established provenance...assuming that the original recipient of the badge didn't scratch his name or have his name engraved onto the badge's reverse, and I've never seen such a thing myself! If an Honorary GPB recipient had a statement notarized following WWII that a particular badge belonged to him, and if that statement remained with the badge ever since, then that would hold some weight IMO. Or if a spouse or other family member of a recipient wrote a statement to that effect and had it notarized, or if a soldier wrote a statement that he had found a particular AH Honorary GPB at a location known to be the home or the office or headquarters of a particular awardee, and if that soldier had a written statement notarized providing all the facts, and if that statement remained with the badge ever since, then that would constitute a degree of provenance. But aside from such affirmed statements, there is no way of linking any AH Honorary GPB with any specific person. Third or fourth-person tales of where a piece came from, without any solid evidence behind such tales, are not worth the air they're formed with and do not constitute a link to the original recipient.

Br. James

[JoeW]

Now here is another variation of engraving style that was on the e-stand. An authentic badge but is the reverse period done, perhaps by a jeweler? Certainly not very uniform in font. This exact example is shown on the Gold Party badge site in the attachments section.

William Kramer

No,it isn't very uniform in style is it. Quite sloppy if done by a jeweler. We know of examples of regular issue GPBs where the number is engraved, so one assumes a recipient requested an unmarked GPB from Schwarz's office, though I have not been lucky enough to view such correspondence, even in the personal file of the owner of my one example of an engraved badge. But one would think a jeweler when engraving the Fuhrer's initials would take a bit more care.

Hi William:

"...how would I go about linking the original owner to this piece?"

As I see it, the ONLY way any particular AH Honorary GPB can be linked to a specific owner is through established provenance...assuming that the original recipient of the badge didn't scratch his name or have his name engraved onto the badge's reverse, and I've never seen such a thing myself! If an Honorary GPB recipient had a statement notarized following WWII that a particular badge belonged to him, and if that statement remained with the badge ever since, then that would hold some weight IMO. Or if a spouse or other family member of a recipient wrote a statement to that effect and had it notarized, or if a soldier wrote a statement that he had found a particular AH Honorary GPB at a location known to be the home or the office or headquarters of a particular awardee, and if that soldier had a written statement notarized providing all the facts, and if that statement remained with the badge ever since, then that would constitute a degree of provenance. But aside from such affirmed statements, there is no way of linking any AH Honorary GPB with any specific person. Third or fourth-person tales of where a piece came from, without any solid evidence behind such tales, are not worth the air they're formed with and do not constitute a link to the original recipient.

Br. James

True, Br. James. About the best one can do with certain dates is to narrow it down to two, as is the case with Keitel and v. Brauchitsch, or a few recipients with dates on Patzwall's list. But with the common issues dates like 30.1 in 1938, 1939 and 1943, one has several hundred choices. But I think there was a single date issue in 1939, wasn't there?

[Br. James]

"...I think there was a single date issue in 1939, wasn't there?"

Hi Joe,

Yes, I think you're right; I seem to vaguely recall that there was only ONE occasion when only one badge was awarded on a particular date...but I haven't got time to spend with the Patzwall list right now.

Cheers, my friend,

Br. James