GPB

Approximately 1972, well known 3rd Reich historian and antique collector Gailen David, purchase a 30 mm Gold Party Badge from a US service veteran living in Maryland. The badge was in decent condition except for the fact that half of the pin was missing (a common occurrence), and also that an attempt to deface the owner’s NSDAP number was evident. Gailen tossed the GPB in a box where it remained for over 20 years.

In 2010, Kris Meda, a new collector in 3rd Reich antiques, purchased this Gold Party Badge from Gailen. By using a pencil and paper, Kris sketched and traced over the partially effaced number on the reverse of the badge, and was able to extract and bring out the digits of the scratched NSDAP #. That simple investigating process revealed that the badge had initially been stamped with the 4 digit number, 8435. Using this information, Kris ran a check of known NSDAP party numbers on file. It revealed that GPB number 8435 belonged to a Johann Schneider.

It is easily explained why there had been a half hearted attempt to scratch out and erase the identifying number on the reverse of this badge. It was clearly an attempt to hide it’s owners identity.