Condition: Excellent
Maker: R.K.
Base Material: Zinc
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Product Description: This Panzer Assault Badge in Silver is a choice and incredibly well-preserved example. It’s made of fine zinc, and still retains about 95 percent of the original factory applied silver finish. The obverse shows no evident wear, and with the bright intact finish, likely looks much as it did on the day it was made. All of the original detail is intact. The reverse of this badge has a scooped look, and is nice and clean. It’s maker marked behind the swastika, with the initials “R.K.” in raised lettering indicating manufacture by the firm of Rudolf Karneth. The hardware is typical for this variant, with a crimped-in ball hinge and round wire catch, and a functional round wire pin. The hardware is all original, still held in place with the original crimps. This is a beautiful badge that would likely be hard to ever upgrade. The overall condition of this maker marked Panzer Assault Badge in Silver is a strong excellent plus.
Historical Description: The Panzer Assault Badge was instituted on December 20th, 1939. It was awarded in the silver grade to Panzer crewman who met the combat requirements. On June 1st, 1940, following the start of the blitzkrieg against France, the bronze grade was introduced to award armoured reconnaissance, motorcycle riflemen, and panzer-grenadier units. The requirements for both versions were the same, the soldier must have participated in three combat assaults on three separate days to be eligible.
The design of the Standard Panzer Assault Badge consists of an oakleaf wreath surrounding a Panzer (Tank) with the German National Eagle positioned at the top clutching a swastika. The Standard Panzer Assault Badges can still be a common occurrence at local gun and military shows even now. The German Army had tens of thousands of Panzer crewmen who became eligible for the award as the war progressed. Because of the large number of soldiers who had fulfilled the requirements to wear the award, a high demand for producing of the Panzer Assault Badge was needed. In response to this, approximately 35 manufacturers were authorized to produce the award between 1939 and 1945. Many of these manufacturers created their own version of the badge by artistically designing their own version of the eagles, wreath’s, and tanks on the badge. The design of one Panzer badge may not be identical to the next one encountered. This makes the collecting of the different manufacturers and their variants its own niche in the hobby.
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