A-Bomb, Manhattan Project Pin

[BillJones]

This is not a coin, but it is of historical interest, especially in light of the recent celebration for the 70th anniversary of V-J Day.

 

This pin was awarded to those who participated in the Manhattan Project. Their objective was to develop the atomic bomb. The dropping of the bomb on Japan is still a controversial subject. Some thought that it was a cruel overuse of power on the part of the U.S. Government. I can remember left wing students saying, during my undergraduate days, that the U.S. dropped the bomb on Japan so show the Russians how tough we were.

 

Others, and I am in this camp, believe that President Truman did the right thing. It ended the war quickly and avoided a greater loss of life for our fathers and grandfathers who were fighting the war in the Pacific. One can feel for Japanese people who perished in the two blasts, but their government and military were as rotten as the German Nazis. The World War II Japanese showed no compassion or decency for other residents of Asia as well as the prisoners of war they took before and during World War II.

 

[cpm9ball]

I'll bet that a lot of the survivors of Guam, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Bataan, etc. agreed that Truman made the right decision.

 

Chris

[PerryHall]

Very neat and historic relic of WWII. Did you ever test it to see if there was any residual radiation from being around the Manhattan Project?

[BillJones]

I'll have to see if it glows in the dark tonight.

 

At any rate it should have have any radiation in it. According to its history these were awarded to the employees after the project was complete and winding down.

[cpm9ball]

It would have been cool if the maker of the medal had inlaid some Vaseline glass in it.

 

Chris

[johnny9434]

that medal is different and glad to see something like it. there were a lot of hard feelings towards the japs and germans to. any who, nice pick up on the token.

[Ransomville]

My Dad was in the South Pacific on New Guiny . If he were alive today he say it was the Best Idea America came up with.....

[physics-fan3.14]

What is it made of, and where/when was it made? It seems rather crude.

[cpm9ball]

What is it made of, and where/when was it made? It seems rather crude.

 

Jason, this is just a guess on my part, but the uneven rim might be intentional. It could represent the mushroom cloud, and perhaps the indentations around the perimeter could represent the splitting of the atom. I could be way, way off.

 

Chris

[BillJones]

What is it made of, and where/when was it made? It seems rather crude.

 

The pin is made of brass and it was made by the Whitehead and Hoag Company at its headquarters and manufacturing plant in Newark, New Jersey. It was made circa 1945-6 AFTER the Second World War and after the "A-BOMB" became well known. To me the piece is well made and attractive. I would not what I would describe it as 'crude." The design is well executed except for some weakness in the center.

 

Whitehead and Hoag made many, many items. They are best known for making political buttons from just before 1896 until the later 1950s. They did make some die struck tokens, but I believe that this piece was cast.

 

Here is a link to the history of the company by Ted Hake, who is an expert dealer in political items and other pins.

 

Whitehead & Hoag History

[wdrob]

For those that don't like to read,

 

3 movies for your list:

 

The Manhattan Project

Pearl Harbor

The Railway Man

 

Excellent piece of history you have there Bill - radioactive or not.

 

 

 

 

 

[physics-fan3.14]

What is it made of, and where/when was it made? It seems rather crude.

 

Jason, this is just a guess on my part, but the uneven rim might be intentional. It could represent the mushroom cloud, and perhaps the indentations around the perimeter could represent the splitting of the atom. I could be way, way off.

 

Chris

 

Ah, I guess I could see that, now that you mention it. It wasn't obvious to me....

[thebeav]

That is a cool pin.....

 

In the mid 70's, I was a technician at a world renown local R & D firm. One of the engineers in my department worked on the Manhattan Project.

 

Paul

[#]

NLT

[RWB]

What is it made of, and where/when was it made? It seems rather crude.

 

Jason, this is just a guess on my part, but the uneven rim might be intentional. It could represent the mushroom cloud, and perhaps the indentations around the perimeter could represent the splitting of the atom. I could be way, way off.

 

Chris

 

Sounds reasonable.

[Nutmeg Coin]

Nothing gets the attention of the powers that be like a nuke; the Soviets ended up setting off the biggest, the "Tsar".