Condition: Near Mint
Base Material: Aluminum
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Product Description: This 10 Year RAD Long Service Award is a virtually perfect example of this relatively scarce medal. It’s a nicely struck piece, made of aluminum. The factory applied bronze finish is thick and perfect, with appealing chocolate brown tones. There are no signs of wear, and all of the original fine detail remains intact on both sides, with clean, smooth surfaces. It’s an attractive design, with the RAD organizational emblem on the front, surrounded by a wreath. The wording on the reverse translates to “For Loyal Service in the National Labor Service.” The suspension ring is intact, but there is no ribbon. This 10 Year RAD Long Service Award is likely an unissued example. It is pristine, and is in outstanding, near mint condition.
Historical Description: Prior to WWII, the German military and civil authorities instituted a wide range of Long Service Awards to reward personnel for years of service. These awards were used by all branches of the German military, as well as civil and political organizations such as the police, the customs service, and the National Labor Service (RAD). There was also a general Long Service Award for civil service. Each of these awards was issued in the form of a medal that was suspended from a cornflower blue ribbon. Many of these were made in different grades denoting a specific number of years of service. They were worn on the uniform in the form of ribbon or medal bars, and up to two long service awards could be worn at the same time. In most cases, a device affixed to the ribbon bar would denote for which service the award had been issued; sometimes the medals themselves had devices on the ribbons, either in the form of pinned-on metal emblems, or else hand or machine embroidery applied directly to the ribbon. Some German Long Service Awards were very widely awarded, others were made and issued only in small numbers.
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