The badge is in silver-plated brass and enamels; measures 46.0 mm tall, 35.9 mm wide; weighs 22.4 g without the screw plate. Very impressive and massive two-piece construction badge with superimposed Stalin's bas-relief portrait. Nice quality, with standard Soviet propaganda themes executed in exquisite detail. This early version of the badge features less counter-relief and large flat areas in the lower part of the reverse compared with the other variation.

In very fine to excellent condition, far better than most other specimens of this badge that we've encountered. The e

The badge is in silver-plated brass and enamels; measures 46.0 mm tall, 35.9 mm wide; weighs 22.4 g without the screw plate. Very impressive and massive two-piece construction badge with superimposed Stalin's bas-relief portrait. Nice quality, with standard Soviet propaganda themes executed in exquisite detail. This early version of the badge features less counter-relief and large flat areas in the lower part of the reverse compared with the other variation.

In very fine to excellent condition, far better than most other specimens of this badge that we've encountered. The enamel retains a magnificent luster and appears perfect on the first glance. A careful examination with a black light reveals a single tiny repair to one of the red triangles at the bottom (left to the viewer), practically unnoticeable to the naked eye. Besides that, there are only a few microscopic contact marks completely invisible without magnification. The enamel is completely free of rubbing, scratches or the typical flaking, and retains a beautiful luster throughout.

The fragile silver finish on the obverse is almost completely intact having only minor wear to the high points - a very uncommon case. The details of the artwork are pristine. The silver plating on the reverse is pristine. The screw post is full length, nearly 11.5 mm long, and includes the original screw plate.

The badge was awarded starting from 1935 to selected VIPs who either resided in Kazakhstan or had significant ties with it. There were 10,000 of them issued in total, a significant part of them to high-ranking NKVD officers and in particular, supervisors of the GULAG labor camps that had proliferated in Kazakhstan by that time. Therefore, although not ostensibly an NKVD badge, the award is featured in both Rogov's and Sysolytatin's reference guides on Soviet law enforcement badges.

/M. Rogov, History of Awards and Insignia of Russian MVD, 1802 -2002 , p. 112, fig. 1.2.3.53; I. Sysolyatin, Soviet Badges, Volume 2: Law Enforcement Agencies , p. 336, fig. 2.419; Avers 8, p. 30, fig. 198; A. Kalistratov and V. Voronochenko, Early Soviet Labor Badges, Ural Photo Catalog of Soviet Phaleristic. Part 1, p. 112, fig. V-2/.
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