People's Commissariat Of The Lines Of Communication Belt Buckle

[CtahhR]

Does anyone out there know just what and when this belt buckle was? It was thrown in a lot of items I bought a few years ago and I've just put it in a drawer since I had it and today I came across it and It'd be nice to have some more information on it - other than it's old, crudely made and heavy. Sorry about the poor picture but my scanner prefers 2D pictures and I don't have a camera. Thanking you in advance.

[Jeffrey Meffert]

It's an engineering corps device. Perhaps someone took a leftover collar tab or epaulet device and grafted it onto a belt buckle. Interesting "trench art" sort of thing

[Al-muell]

Wouldn't it be railway? They also used this symbol and they probably had some belt buckles, at least in Stalin's era.

[EricFG]

Pretty large for a collar tab, isn't it? I mean, those Soviet buckles can be pretty large.
What's the back look like?

[CtahhR]

Here is the back of a different buckle I found on the internet (since I don't have a camera) that has the same sort of back (except the buckle in question is flat). I also found a picture of this similar buckle on a site claiming to be offering relics of Stalingrad for free.

[RichieC]

Originally Posted by Al-muell

Wouldn't it be railway? They also used this symbol and they probably had some belt buckles, at least in Stalin's era.

I would say that also...

[CtahhR]

If I had to hazard a guess on it's age it is DEFINITELY pre-GPW probably the mid-late 20's. It is very heavy duty and has had a good share of honest wear on it. The spanner and hammer on the front are bigger and more heavy duty than collar tabs and are very firmly attached.

[Will]

My first thought was Railway as well.
The crossed hammer and wrench as a Railways symbol went back to Tsarist times and was continued under the Soviet regime.

[CtahhR]

I thought when I posted this picture that I'd get an encyclopaedic answer within minutes as there are so many top folks who really know their stuff. I thought I was pretty stupid for not knowing what it was when I posted it and that someone would be able to tell me when and where and by who it was made etc. but it seems it's a bit of a head scratcher. I have searched and searched and apart from the similar (but definitely not the same) buckle which is claimed to be a Stalingrad relic, I've not come up with anything. It really can't be a one off and I'm sure when its identity has been uncovered we'll find out just how common it was. Fingers crossed someone out there knows just what it is. I suppose if we cross off the list what it can't be it will only leave what it can be.

[RichieC]

Kindly show an image of the reverse...