Deciphering NSDAP parteiabzeichen maker (?) mark: RGM/KGM?

[Fiore]

Hello all,

I did a search of the forum could find nothing of the kind, so I kindly ask opinions on this, my only Parteiabzeichen. I had always thought it was unmarked and therefore probably not original, but on very close inspection recently I made out the letters 'RGM' or possibly 'KGM'. These letters are extremely small and faint, almost passing for scratches, but I do believe they are in fact deliberate marks. I have tried my best to get a clear photo - no easy task! In the second photo I have outline them in the red box (click to view full size).

Thanks in advance for any comments/opinions.

[NSDAP Sammler]

Hello all,

I did a search of the forum could find nothing of the kind, so I kindly ask opinions on this, my only Parteiabzeichen. I had always thought it was unmarked and therefore probably not original, but on very close inspection recently I made out the letters 'RGM' or possibly 'KGM'. These letters are extremely small and faint, almost passing for scratches, but I do believe they are in fact deliberate marks. I have tried my best to get a clear photo - no easy task! In the second photo I have outline them in the red box (click to view full size).

Thanks in advance for any comments/opinions.

That should be "DRGM", the "D" is probably missing. DRGM = "Deutsches Reichs Gebrauchsmuster", that means something like "German Reich Utility Model".

[Fiore]

That should be "DRGM", the "D" is probably missing. DRGM = "Deutsches Reichs Gebrauchsmuster", that means something like "German Reich Utility Model".

Thank you - now you mention it, of course I've seen DRGM marked on several belts, snap-hooks and the likes, and never made the connection! What's odd is that this seems so crude, and with the missing 'D'... and yet, why would a faker make such a mark so small and hard to see? I would imagine fake badges utilise much more visible RZM and Ges.Gesch. marks instead. Odd.

Any thoughts on originality?

[NSDAP Sammler]

Thank you - now you mention it, of course I've seen DRGM marked on several belts, snap-hooks and the likes, and never made the connection! What's odd is that this seems so crude, and with the missing 'D'... and yet, why would a faker make such a mark so small and hard to see? I would imagine fake badges utilise much more visible RZM and Ges.Gesch. marks instead. Odd.

Any thoughts on originality?

That's right, indeed! It's a bit unusual for it to be marked "DRGM", but that doesn't mean it's not original. What I can see in the photos doesn't bother me, so I think it's just an early piece from before 1933. Most of these pieces were marked "Ges. Gesch." marked (= Gesetzlich Geschützt/protected by law) because the RZM marking was only introduced in 1934. But there are also early pieces from before 1933 that are not marked at all! The "DRGM" mark was used for all sorts of things in Germany from the early 1920s and even after 1945 until about 1949. After that there was the "DBGM" mark (= Deutsches Bundes Gebrauchsmuster/German Federal Utility Model).

[Vincent]

Thats a really nice early badge. Vince