Early hollow Silver grade Infantry Assault Badge. Made by Pforzheim based O. Schickle. After this company lost its license, the remaining stock was bought by the neighboring company B.H. Mayer. This company stamped its L/18 LDO code n the pin allowing it to sell the remaining Schickle stock via LDO outlets. Albeit one of the more commonly encountered early IAB's , the L/18 pin mark makes this a rare and very desirable variant among collectors. The award clearly saw some action but overall remains in good condition.
