Presidential Service Badge Numbers (Need Your Help)

[Argonauts2]

Presidential Service Badges

 

Number Recipient Administration Awarded

 

77 Radioman, WH Com JFK 1964

194 LBJ 9/1/1964

326 SP4 James Besco LBJ 9/1/1964

992* Army Exec Flight Detach 1965

2,214 SP4 Thomas B. Joyce LBJ 1968

3,291 Ebay 1971(?)

4,130

5,565 Clp. Keith Bradfield,USMC Carter 10/12/1977

5,483 Exec Flight Detach Carter 1977

6,750 Cpl K. Bradfield (USMC) Reagan 1981

7,736

13,761

14,855* George HW Bush

15,577 Thomas (Marine EM) Clinton 1997

15,843 Jeffrey Marino Clinton 1995-99

15,990 Com Bradford Ableson Clinton 1996-99

15,921 LT Com Graham Stowe, Clinton 1997-99

19,161 Ebay

19,233 Ebay

19,369 Ebay

 

A number of years ago, I attempted like many to get a copy of the list of Presidential Service Badge recipients by number and if at the least, the number ranges by administration. Unfortunately, I have not been able to make any headway in this effort.

 

Fortunately, I work with a number of people who have received the badge for their tours through the White House and have been able to log their numbers, the owners in some cases and the year they were awarded with the hope that over time, I might be able to build a crude table of number ranges by administration.

 

Noted above is the list I have been able to assemble thus far from several sources (the forum, ASMIC, OMSA) and from recipients. I have also noted a group of numbered badges that have appeared on ebay which I believe were production overruns never awarded or copies that were numbered after the fact.

 

I would ask anyone who has a numbered badge that they can document/verify the year it was presented to consider posting that information of this Topic Listing. I will update the running list for everyone as we receive new numbers.

 

I have attached photographs two badge I have in my collection.

 

Thank you.

[Argonauts2]

Here are a few more photographs on my two badges.

[Argonauts2]

Here in the badge Box.

[Argonauts2]

The back of both of my numbered badges. The badge to the right was awarded during George H.W. Bush's administration.

[firefighter]

I can't help you with the numbers but just want to tell you, very nice.I really like the '992' with the original issue box.I wouldn't think to many of those are a round.I'm sure most threw the box out

[Bearmon]

I was under the belief that these started with LBJ in Sept of 1964, I don't believe they were approved during JFK;s Administration, plus it would have been a little difficult for him to have given one out in 1964 as your list suggests!

I have number 99 a first day issue but no info to go along with it.

I also have a 4 digit I don't recall the numbers right now.

[Argonauts2]

I was under the belief that these started with LBJ in Sept of 1964, I don't believe they were approved during JFK;s Administration, plus it would have been a little difficult for him to have given one out in 1964 as your list suggests!

I have number 99 a first day issue but no info to go along with it.

I also have a 4 digit I don't recall the numbers right now.

Thanks Bearmon. Appreciate your help. If enough people post their data over time, we might pull together a good overall list that helps bracket the different administrations. All the best. J

[lovmilinsig]

Interesting thread . Thanks for posting .

 

Ed

[Dave]

A friend of mine who worked at the White House (I have his PSB, but the number escapes me at the moment...) was able to access a listing of all PSB recipients by number as he was able to look up one for me. I wonder if a FOIA would work to get the list?

[Argonauts2]

A friend of mine who worked at the White House (I have his PSB, but the number escapes me at the moment...) was able to access a listing of all PSB recipients by number as he was able to look up one for me. I wonder if a FOIA would work to get the list?

Thanks Dave, FOIA might be a good approach. I knew the fellow who commanded the Military Communications unit where the badges were issued out of a few years ago, and he said that it was tightly managed.

[Presidentialserver]

I can help. I have several Presidential Service Badges, two with the original Presidential Service Badge Certificates with the names of the person awarded the badge with the date the badge was awarded hence these can be traced the the appropriate administration. I will have to dig out the badges and certificates. The one entry is correct the PSB was first awarded during Johnson's administration. The White House Service Badge was "retired" on 30 August 1964 and the first PSBs were issued on September 1, 1964. All single digit and double digit PSBs were issued during Johnson's Administration. Many of the lower triple digit PSBs probably in the low 200s to maybe 300s were also awarded during Johnson's adiministration. I will check my badges with the certificates. Very rare to find the badges with the original Presidential Badge Certificate.

[COOKIEMAN]

WHSB #4702 - Contract Number - DSA100-74-C-0684 - circa 1974

[awmartin]

Hi,

 

Funny to see this thread! I actually requested a FOIA for recipients of PSB from 1964 to 1980 about 3 months ago. I just received a response. Unfortunately what I got wasn't very helpful. I'll attach a screenshot below of what I got. There are 312 pages, although the recipient of each badge has been censored. The only information available is the organization that each recipient belonged to (most are from the White House Communication Agency), and a few (maybe 3%) of the badges have a date (sometimes just a year).

 

I would be happy to update this thread with information from time to time with whatever information that I have.

 

 

[roadrunner]

Hello

 

It would be great if there is an opportunity to put this topic together with the following.

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/4007-presidential-service-badge-patch/page-4?hl=%20presidential%20%20service%20%20badge

 

HAVE A NICE DAY

Michael

[Argonauts2]

I can help. I have several Presidential Service Badges, two with the original Presidential Service Badge Certificates with the names of the person awarded the badge with the date the badge was awarded hence these can be traced the the appropriate administration. I will have to dig out the badges and certificates. The one entry is correct the PSB was first awarded during Johnson's administration. The White House Service Badge was "retired" on 30 August 1964 and the first PSBs were issued on September 1, 1964. All single digit and double digit PSBs were issued during Johnson's Administration. Many of the lower triple digit PSBs probably in the low 200s to maybe 300s were also awarded during Johnson's adiministration. I will check my badges with the certificates. Very rare to find the badges with the original Presidential Badge Certificate.

Thank you for your help. Any badge number and date you can share, would be greatly appreciated.

[Argonauts2]

Hi,

 

Funny to see this thread! I actually requested a FOIA for recipients of PSB from 1964 to 1980 about 3 months ago. I just received a response. Unfortunately what I got wasn't very helpful. I'll attach a screenshot below of what I got. There are 312 pages, although the recipient of each badge has been censored. The only information available is the organization that each recipient belonged to (most are from the White House Communication Agency), and a few (maybe 3%) of the badges have a date (sometimes just a year).

 

I would be happy to update this thread with information from time to time with whatever information that I have.

 

Untitled.png

 

 

AW Martin,

Thank you for the information as this will be helpful to all who collect these badges. Though there are not names included which would be the best situation, having some badges with dates, would at least be helpful in bracketing roughly when badges were issued by administration. Any sense of how many badges on your list have dates? Depending upon the number, would it be possible to get those badge numbers and their issue date so we can post this information? Joe

[digi-shots]

Very interesting thread!

 

Just wondering what a fair value would be for both the PSB and VPSB in today's market (without the box). I'm sure having the box would add a bit.

 

Thanks!

[Dave]

Very interesting thread!

 

Just wondering what a fair value would be for both the PSB and VPSB in today's market (without the box). I'm sure having the box would add a bit.

 

Thanks!

 

I can't help on the VPSB, as I haven't seen many for sale, but I have seen PSBs sell anywhere from $40 (yes, I wish I had bought those!) to $200 (sometimes a tad higher, but these often go unsold at higher prices). I think a good price range on these is around $85-$100...that's where they will sell within a reasonable amount of time. The box doesn't add a tremendous amount of value, at least in my opinion. I'd definitely buy the one in the box as opposed to the one not in the box if the price were the same, but it's not like the box adds 50% to the value or anything. A ton of these badges came out on the market a couple years ago that were all unissued. Old Marine could probably comment more on that because he had a decent stash of them he picked up. That rather diluted the market for these, and brought the prices within range of being affordable for most collectors (IIRC, I got ~$285 for an older PSB that I sold back in about 2004 or so, but they were really tough to find back then...) Also, obviously, the earliest ones and ones with low serial numbers also bring a premium as well.

 

Now one with the original documents? I can't comment on that as I haven't seen many of those for sale. I have one in my collection I was given with copies of the documents, but it came from a friend of mine on White House staff (WHCA). If I were to find, and then offer to sell, one with the two original documents, I'd probably start around $400 and see if there are any takers...then be flexible from there. And that starting price is assuming the original wearer was someone that was relatively "run of the mill". A lot has to do with who the person was. Were they an E-4 at the WHCA? An O-3 watch officer? Or were they a President's Aide or Executive Fellow who made it to flag/general officer rank? Obviously, a big difference in value between the different jobs and where people ended up.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Dave

[Argonauts2]

Digi shots

I agree with Dave on the price range with a few additions, I have found the un-numbered badges at shows for $40 to $85. Numbered badges in the $100 to $150 range, these are high number badges in the 17,000 plus range. I believe these to be production over runs that started appearing on eBay and at Militaria shows a few years ago, but a large number turned up and they were all in the same number range. Lower numbered badges, 3 digit and below tend to command higher prices in the $250 range and I have seen lower

numbered badges. with documents in the $400 plus ranges. Like most things those named and documented command a little more in the market. Hope this help. Joe

[firefighter]

Are the un-numbered badges original issued item or are only the numbered ones? Are the Vice President service badges also numbered?

[vintageproductions]

I have badge and document #326 to a J. Besco

[Argonauts2]

Thank you for sharing.

[awmartin]

I've gone through all 322 pages of the FOIA request and have come up with the following date ranges. I've tried to include as much information as possible, which proved to be problematic towards the end as more dates were available and I got tired of transcribing them. Some of the badge #s skip around, for example, badges in the 3990s were issued in 1979, while 3800s were issued in 1973.

 

For the most part these ranges are correct, although I've encountered numerous badges such as 146, 156 and 198 to name a few that were issued later (1993, 1998 and 1987), so these ranges aren't 100% accurate in some cases.

 

Hopefully someone finds these helpful in some way.

 

0-1052 = 14 May 1965

1100 - 1400 = no dates associated. I assume they were issued in May 1965 judging from the penmanship.

1450s = January / February 1966

1487-1558 = 13 May 1966

1559- about 1962 = 26 August 1966

1652- 1673 = 16 November 1966

1674 - 1700 = 27 Feb 1967

1701-1786 = Sometime between February and July 1967

1787 - 1796 = 12 July 1967

1797-1966 = Unknown

1967 = 19 Feb 1968

2048 = 14 June 1968

2071 = 20 June 1968

2111 = 15 Aug 1968

2292 - 2314 = 15 April 1969

2344 - 2347 = 6 June 1969

2398 - 2409 = 8 August 1969

2437 - 2440 = 24 September 1969

2563 -2564 = 18 March 1970

2593 - 2615 = 11 May 1970

2638 - 2645 = 22 May 1970

3015 - 3019 = 14 April 1071

3201- 3219 = 7 September 1971

3647 = 1 December 1971

3746 - 3759, 3787 - 3821 = 12 January 1972

[awmartin]

3859 - 4036 = 13 January 1972

3181 - 3523 = 14 August 1972

3516 - 3537 = 10 November 1972

3664-3780 = 23 February 1973

3892 = 8 May 1973

3988 - 3990, 3999 - 4011, 3226 - 3278 = 7 September 1973

3584 = 26 December 1973

3617 - 3885 = 24 January 1974

3994 - 3998 = 7 September 1979

4176 - 4305 = 16 September 1974

4307 - 4410 = November 1974

4412 - 4459 = 24 December 1974

4464 - 4486 = 15 January 1975

4490 - 4538 = 13 February 1975

4544 - 4574 10 March 1975

4584 - 4614 = April 1975

4615 - 4646 = 21 May 1975

4652 - 4671 = June 1975

4673 - 4711 = 11 July 1975

4717 - 4769 = 27 August 1975

4774 - 4831 = 10 November 1975

4874 - 4909 = 8 December 1975

4912 - 4927 = 9 January 1976

4959 - 4979 = 20 February 1976

4981 - 4997 = 8 March 1976

 

 

[awmartin]

5077 - 5136 = July 1976

5138 - 5176 = 30 August 1976

5177 - 5200 = 28 September 1976

5203 - 5246 = November 1976

5283 - 5323 = January 1977

5577 - 5579 = December 1977

5623 - 5649 = 14 February 1978

5830 - 5969 = August 1978

5920 - 5937 = 5 December 1978

6014 - 6047 = May 1979

6142 - 6171 = October 1979

6232 - 6274 = January 1980

6330 - 6351 = April 1980

6529 = January 1981

 

I only requested badges up to 1980 thinking that most of the information wouldn't be censored, so that's it.