Wehrmacht civilian employee pin - is this a typical variant?

[3986QMTC]

Hi everyone,

The workmanship on these particular lapel pins must be all over the place, many of them looking like the dies were made by trainees. These are way out of my knowledgebase (I'm under the impression that this was intended for a male civilian in the service of the Heer or Kriegsmarine), so can anyone with experience on these comment on this one's rather odd craftsmanship? The spiraling on the pin is the best bit of workmanship on the piece!

There are some traces of a silver wash on the edges and the back where a punch has raised the metal, and in the photo on the armband background, you can just see a tiny sliver of metal that is still attached in the angle between the wreath and the bottom of the eagle's right wing.

Best regards,

G. Kelly

[Eric Zentner]

Looks like a nice original pin other than that I am unable to help.

Eric

[BOB COLEMAN]

It appears to be a genuine period piece. The design would lead me to think it is related to the German police.

[Eric Zentner]

Thought so too Bob but the wing are very long?

Eric

[BOB COLEMAN]

Thought so too Bob but the wing are very long?

Eric

Yes, I noticed that. It may just be a variant design. It is only a stick pin to be worn with civilian clothing. The design shows no resemblance to any insignia used by any of the German Armed Forces.

[3986QMTC]

I've seen these described differently, but nearly always as being some sort of pin to identify civilians in the service of the Wehrmacht (more specifically the Heer or the Kriegsmarine, the Luftwaffe having its own wreath/winged swastika design). Supposedly the nearly circular wreath and extended wingspan of the eagle differentiate it from the more oval wreath and shorter-span wings of police badges.

I also have the idea that the stickpin versions were intended for male personnel, while the ones with a horizontal pinback were for female personnel, but I can't recall where I picked up that impression. I confess that I may know even less about these things than I think I do... and I don't know that much to begin with!

Regards,

G. Kelly

[BOB COLEMAN]

Undocumented oral tradition collector lore is usually not something to rely on. It certainly is not a theory I have ever heard in the many long years I have collected. For instance, look how many years the SA Wehrmannschaft armband was incorrectly identified as a "SA sports armband?" Nothing in thie design of this piece would indicate any relationship to the military in my opinion.

[Eric Zentner]

You know it is real now so rest easy.
I find if you try to diagnose every maker on a unmarked item it will cause you insomnia so I no longer try.

Eric

[3986QMTC]

I find if you try to diagnose every maker on a unmarked item it will cause you insomnia so I no longer try.

Eric

True. I used to have things my uncles brought back that defied the rules, none of which bothered them in the least.

I did just run across something "sort of/kind of" referring to an "Abzeichen fur Angestellte and Arbeiter bei Heer, Kriegsmarine und Waffen-SS (Silber)," but I don't know it that refers to this sort of badge or not. If its just a plain old period stickpin, there are worse things to be stuck with.

(No pun intended).

Thanks to all for the comments!

Regards,

G. Kelly

ETA 09-29-2013: the above description did turn up similar pins when fed into a search engine. If that is indeed the correct description, the name is far more imposing than the item itself!

[bigmacglenn]

Ruptured Duck is currently selling one of these as a Police/Customs (Zoll) Stick-pin for $55....But yours appears to be of higher quality....
cheers, Glenn