Italy, Fascist State. A Youth "Opera Balilla" Field Badge, by Lorioli & Castelli, c.1940
Item #EU14995
$101
In silver, obverse illustrating the left-facing bust of Benito Mussolini, flanked by upward-pointing rifles on either side, surrounded by the inscription "VII° CAMPO DVX OPERA BALILLA" beside a fasces blade and inscribed "A.XIII°" below, reverse maker marked "LORIOLI & CASTELLI MILANO" and marked "MODELLO DEPOSITATO / RIPRODUZIONE INTERDETTA", measuring 38 mm in diameter, vertical pinback, oxidation spot evident on the obverse, very light contact, near extremely fine.
Footnote: The Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) was an Italian Fascist youth organization functioning between 1926 and 1937, when it was absorbed into the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL), a youth section of the National Fascist Party. It takes its name from Balilla, the nickname of Giovan Battista Perasso, a Genoese boy who, according to local legend, started the revolt of 1746 against the Habsburg forces that occupied the city in the War of the Austrian Succession. Perasso was chosen as the inspiration for his supposed age and revolutionary activity, while his presence in the fight against Austria reflected the irredentist stance taken by early Fascism, and Italy's victories in the First World War.