Excellent Sniper badge

[Woolgar]

Just added this nice Sniper badge to my collection. I believe it its wartime but any comments are welcome

Thanks

Nick

[Bill Garvy]

Yes, I think it's period, and a much nicer example than this 1943 variant that used to reside in the collection.

[Woolgar]

Thanks Bill! That is a nice example too

Nick

[Marcel Banziger]

Nice badges gentlemen! I just received this one today. Some loss of enamel as well as some damage to the enamel. The pin on the back is slightly bend as well. All in all a badge with character and traces of real wear.

[Woolgar]

Very nice pick up Marcel!! Another great addition to your Excellence badge collection

Congrats

Nick

[Watchdog]

Nice badge Nick,

I love these and really enjoyed hunting them down whilst serving in Berlin (in the good old days of spies and secrets!! pre - Glasnost ) the Soviet troops I got them off thought I was mental but then I was not the one coveting mail order catalogues

Here is a comparison of the early and late designs (I don't say war and post war because I believe the "wartime" pattern ran into the post-war period but am not sure of the exact timeline as not all the series changed at the same time). There are obvious differences between the two in design and finish but the ones that really do stick out are the change from six dots in the circlet to two and that the earlier type is obviously more vaulted than the later.

I hope this helps.

Regards

PS Sorry about pic quality. The light is bad here today.

Mark

[Marcel Banziger]

Thanks a lot Nick!

@Watchdog: there is actually another version wich comes period-wise inbetween those two you have shown.
Nick's badge that started the thread is (as far as I know) the earlier type. This changed to the type Bill Garvy showed (in my eyes the second type). Both (pre-)wartime types have some differences, f.e. the lettering of the word "sniper" or the bottom of the backside to name a few.

[Watchdog]

Thanks a lot Nick!

@Watchdog: there is actually another version wich comes period-wise inbetween those two you have shown.
Nick's badge that started the thread is (as far as I know) the earlier type. This changed to the type Bill Garvy showed (in my eyes the second type). Both (pre-)wartime types have some differences, f.e. the lettering of the word "sniper" or the bottom of the backside to name a few.

Thanks Marcel,

I didn't know there was a third variation. As I say I collected most of my Soviet stuff before the wall came down (proper old fashioned wheeler dealing, "seat of the pants" collecting) when information about the badges themselves was sparse and harder to obtain than the badges.

Can you show an example of the third variation and do you know the time-line? This is an area of my collection in which I am in need of some "refresher training"!

Regards

Mark

[Marcel Banziger]

Hello Mark,

Actually all three versions (as I know of) are shown here on this page.

The earlier one, posted by Nick shows nicely written the word sniper in thin letters. The small star inside the white circle at the 6 o'clock point is smaller and on the backside f.e. the bottompart below the two triggers is a bit bigger than the next version.

The next version (again, as I see it) is the one posted by Bill Garvy and myself which I see as a mid to late war version. The word sniper is written with more crude and thicker letters. The 6 o'clock star always touches with its top ray the inner circle and on the backside the part below the triggers is smaller than the earlier version.

The third and postwar version, posted by yourself has the typical postwar "crown" which all postwar examples have.

Hope this helps! And by the way, if anyone knows of more versions than feel free to correct me. I always wanna learn more on these

[545x39mm]

Nice examples.