PANZER ASSAULT BADGE IN SILVER (Panzerkampfabzeichen in Silber).

The Panzer Assault Badge in silver was instituted by Generaloberst Walther von Brauchitsch on December 20th 1939 for award to all ranks of tank personnel who served as a tank commander, driver, gunner or radio operator and had been involved in three different armored assaults on three different days. The institution order indicated the criteria for award of the badge was to be effective as of January 1st 1940.
On June 1st 1940 a Bronze version of the Panzer Assault Badge was introduced for award to Panzer-Grenadier, medical, and armored car personnel who participated in three different armored assaults on three different days.
By June 1943 it was realized that the Panzer Assault Badge didnt sufficiently recognize the number of assaults participated in by armored personnel, which resulted in the introduction of the numbered Special Grade of the Panzer Assault Badge in both silver and bronze versions on June 22nd 1943.
The numbered Special Grade of the Panzer Assault Badge were awarded with the numerals, 25, 50, 75 and 100. The numbered badges followed the basic design of their un-numbered predecessors but were larger and had the addition of an inset rectangular plate with a numeral to the bottom of the wreath.
Nicely detailed, die stamped, hollow backed, zinc construction award with a frosty silver washed finish. The badge is in the form of an embossed, vertically oval, oak-leaf wreath with a Wehrmacht style eagle with down-swept wings, clutching a canted swastika in its talons, superimposed to the top center, encompassing the cut-out, forward profile of a tank. The wreath, eagle and tank all show nice detailing.
The reverse of the badge is a mirror image of the obverse and has a crimped, soldered, a thin round vertical pin and a soldered catch. The badge has no visible manufacturers markings.

Found on the battlefield. As the pictures show.