Article about: Perhaps a few learned members here could shed some more light on this ANSL enameled badge. I am aware of the Hüsken kleinabzeichenkatalog description, which is all there is, a description wi
Perhaps a few learned members here could shed some more light on this ANSL enameled badge.
I am aware of the Hüsken kleinabzeichenkatalog description, which is all there is, a description with a star next to the value. I am also aware of the multitude of fake and fantasy badges pictured by Hüsken as real for decades!, so am not going to just take his word on this.
I have tried to research this myself to no avail, and have not found a single reference to any ANSL. Seeing as my interest in American nazi items borders on zero, i cant justify the $100.- on the "Freeland - They Too Were Americans" book just to "see" if this organization is mentioned or not. Been down that road too many times before and put good cash in the sand along the way. (as well as filling my library with crap) The purpose of a forum is to help, so...
I have tried to research this myself to no avail, and have not found a single reference to any ANSL. Seeing as my interest in American nazi items borders on zero, i cant justify the $100.- on the "Freeland - They Too Were Americans" book just to "see" if this organization is mentioned or not.
The ANSL is indeed mentioned in Scott Freeland's book, but only very briefly.
An "American National Socialist League (ANSL)" is included in an appendix that lists "American Nationalist & Fascist Organizations (1930s)" and identified as one of the organizations that were "known to have some uniformed forces" (page 297).
The chapter on "Other U.S. Nationalist Organizations" has a photograph of a provisional membership card for the organization that was issued to one Henry Meyer of the Ortsgruppe Bronx, N.Y. of Gau Ost on 15th Jan. 1935 with the entry date given as 13 Sept. 1934. Imprinted on the card is the organization's name in German ["Bund Amerikanischer National-Sozialisten"], while a round stamp bears the name in English ["AMERICAN NATIONAL SOCIALIST LEAGUE / NATIONAL COUNCIL"] (page 244; the item is credited to the author's collection).
Finally, there are two pictures showing a membership badge like the one in this thread (in both cases obverse only).
The captions are "A rare ANSL (American National Socialist League) pin from the early 1920s. Only two of these pins are currently known to exist, one screw-back and the other pin-back." (page 264) and "An extremely rare pin of the American National Socialist League, a short-lived predecesser ot the Teutonia Club" (page 14); in both cases, credited to the author's collection.
With the Teutonia Club founded in 1924, this would mean that the ANSL had ceased to exist by then (which would be contradicted by the 1935 membership card, unless these were two different organizations sharing the same name). The eagle and the background field to the "ANSL" appear to be black in the badge on page 14 and dark blue in the badge on page 264; but it might be just a trick of the light.
It helps relieve me of $100.- because i now need to buy the book
Thanks for the heads up, really appreciated. I have known about these pins for quite some time, and sourced one for a Russian collector 2-3 years ago. I remember the amount as well, not the cheapest of items. The one in this thread is mine
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