Badge "XXX Years Of Soviet Rule".

[deValcourt]

Here's another one that appears to fit into this category, except for one thing - the Latin letters at the base. I get that it is probably (at least according to the seller) a badge for 30 years of the Soviet Union. However, I don't see any Russian mint marks for something allegedly this old and I still have no idea what the letters at the bottom are for - acronym? a language from a republic I don't recognize?

Phillip

[Keith]

This badge and a less common Russian language version were both made in 1947 in Estonia. I don't believe its an award of any kind, just a souvenir. These are also commonly available for 5-10 usd in Estonia - and less than that if you look around. Its funny to see some of the western dealers asking $75-100 for this trying to promote it as a rare piece of some kind.

Its kind of ironic to see that the truly rare local award badges that are expensive in Estonia are cheaper elsewhere, and something like this the price gets driven up for no reason.

Here's why the price gets driven up unnecessarily, the badge is listed in Avers 8, page 18, figure 78.

Keith

[Nota Bene]

Thanks, Keith, that's good to know.

Alexei