Red army breast badge 1918

[Kim]

As a true optimist I'm posting this one in the badges forum and not the fakes forum...;)

I got this one with a bunch of cap badges and I don't know what to make of it. Most likely it's a fake but it's old and has a good patina.

Has anybody got a real one so that we can compare?

[HuliganRS]

Kim, it's not a breast badge. It's a hat device.
it looks real and a in very good shape for it's age!

Rusty.

[Kim]

Why do you think it's a hat badge? The one thing I know for sure is that this is a breast badge. It was the first distinction badge of the Red Army soldiers or officers. Without the wreath it could have been a cap star, but with the wreath it's a breast badge.

The interesting thing is if it's fake or not. At least to me;)

/Kim

[vikingraider1]

Kim,
I have a cap badge from this period and it has no wreath, just the star. Interesting thing is that the colour is a lighter shade of red. I am presuming that the colouring on yours is enamel judging by the chips on the right hand part of the star. Cap badges appear to have used normal paint to colour the red star.
I would say that it is genuine. The patina looks real and the metal looks suitably aged too. What is it made from? Brass?

[Nota Bene]

Gentlemen,

This entire line of badges (with the wreatch) was meant as breast badges, but I've read somewhere that it was not unusual to see them worn on hats.

I don't have an oppinion about this particular badge (which is unusual for me :). Here's what I don't like about it - the ones I have seen in real life and on pictures had translucent and hence much lighter enamel, the plow had two distinct handles, that were much higher and were touching the edge of the star. At the same time I am sure there were many other variations, not published in any books yet. I also find it odd that the patina where the enamel is damaged is darker than on the other parts of the badge, and I don't like those dark spots on the hammer head - as if someone had spilled a little of darkening solution.

Alexei

[Eugene]

Actually, this badge was attached to the breast belt.
It was produce on early stage of the Civil war (1918) and was dictinction of Red Army commanders.
They are very terrible and quality and have many variations that make them very easy target for fakes. The fakers do the great job to make them look old.
I don't think there are experts around who may distinquished the good fakes unless the sophisticated test is done to determine the age of the metal.

[Alfred]

Hello,

here is another Commander´s Badge of the Russian Civil war. It has no serial number, but three stamps. One is the women-head 84.

[Taz]

Hello,

here is another Commander´s Badge of the Russian Civil war. It has no serial number, but three stamps. One is the women-head 84.

These Commanders Badges are taken from Herfurth's book. It includes the one in your post it is described as a general or universal Red commanders badge from the Civil war period.

Here are two variations.

[Taz]

And from left to right Red Commanders of machine Gun, Signal/Communication and Artillery Units.

On the link I posted earlier the womens head with the number 84 pops up quite often. If we had some close up's of the marks on Jussi-pekka's badge maybe we could determine where at least and maybe even who made these Commanders Badges.
It seems that the Imperial and the early soviet badges had more and varied Silver markings than their Soviet counterparts. It's a long shot but if we could find out where they were made more info might be able to be found on these rare badges.

Eddie.