From what I can gather these were made early in the history of the soviet plastics industry and are pretty hard to find. Some sources say they were introduced at the 1939 exhibition whereas others say after the GPW. They are certainly BCXB (VSKhV; 1939-40, 1954-58) rather than BDNX (VDNKh) so they are before 1959. The logo of the exhibition changed when it became the BDNX, and this badge is certainly the BCXB logo. I suppose it could be after 1959 if the soviets were into retro stuff; however I have never seen any reference to that.
I was lucky - I bought a silver BCXB medal and document from our favourite Israeli document provider and he asked whether I would be interested in the badge. I said yes and he threw it into the package for an extra $2.
Simon
P.S. I will post some others later today when I return from the coast.
Reading this thread caused me to delve into my collection and pull a few items I hadn't looked at in awhile. I know pitifully little about these organizations and, for the most part, acquired these badges/medals as parts of a larger purchase made years back. Anyway, two examples of the VSKV badges- the one on the left is a one-piece while the one on the right is a nicer two-piece example.
The one piece example is a near-full reverse with no mint mark, while the two-piece is flat backed with the LMD mint mark.
"We are Marching for the Victory of Communist Labour" V.I. Ulyanov (Lenin)
A recent aquisition. It looks like a 50's era, or maybe early 60's style. I've seen them semi-frequently on ebay so they can't be too rare at all.
My guess is that this was sold at the exhibition as a souvenir and not as a reward of any type.
"patina imparts character" - PJS
A wise man said: 'you should not pay a premium for what you want beyond your comfort level, and always ensure there is a mutually agreeable return policy.'
