The cost to produce a die was not as great as is assumed on this forum. The badge makers have the die engravers on staff and these guys are constantly making samples on spec. Granted, the unit cost of a badge is reduced when you order 500 but the unit cost is not prohibitive by only ordering 50 - which was often the case for wartime officers' badges.
Post-war manufacture of an existing badge WAS cost-effective. Witness the number of common badges which appeared in the 60s. I can remember going to London in '73 and bird-dogging for John Perocchio's old Ottawa store "Parabellum". I was offered a large number of Canadian re-strikes and every imagineable Nazi badge/medal at ridiculously low prices.
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