12-08-2013, 05:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-08-2013, 05:34 AM by deValcourt.)
Ralph Pickard Wrote:I am glad this thread was updated again. I know this might be a tough question to answer. Were there many of these badges made or presented?
Tough to answer indeed. As an ММД product and without a state-set price stamped on the reverse for public sale, it is likely that a significant number were made for lower-ranking КГБ employees who didn't merit state level anniversary badges, but I've never seen pictures of it in reference books. In fact, the ePay seller I bought it from a few years ago had it listed as an МВД badge. Nonetheless, the design is intricate and has all the typical КГБ symbols - laurel and oak leaves, sword and shield with a raised star and the hammer and sickle raised in the center of the star (this combination was reserved for the КГБ in nearly every award or associated document).
When I first posted photos of it somewhere here asking if anyone knew what it was, I got several answers. Between what I deduced it was and what someone else who has a copy of it and I trust said, we agreed it was foreign intelligence. As such, this badge would probably not be worn in public very often - if ever. It could have been given to retiring (retired) members of the First Chief Directorate as well. Active members who were not high-ranking officers would probably be working with top secret information or had security clearances that would make them a target for counterintelligence in non-Soviet countries, even if they were not actually "spies." Still wondering about who received them and why (and even more, who could/would wear them and where/when they might wear them:whistler).
Phillip
Phillip
