2025.11

Purchase

1960s

Maker: Beret unmarked (no label). Pin issued for/by the Milicias Nacionales Revolucionarias (Batallón 156); manufacturer not identified. Date: Early Cuban revolutionary period. The pin is an MNR founding-member ("Fundador") badge, and the MNR were unified on 26 October 1959, placing the object firmly post-1959 — within range. The pin's exact production year is unconfirmed (a "fundador" badge may be contemporaneous with the unit's founding, c. 1959–early 1960s, or a later commemorative issue). Place of Origin: Cuba.

Pin obverse — central MNR (Milicias Nacionales Revolucionarias) insignia/shield, framed by "BON-156" (Batallón 156) above and "FUNDADOR" (founding member) below. Beret — no label, size, or stamp visible.

Fair

The MNR were created by Fidel Castro on 26 October 1959 as a popular armed branch to defend the country against foreign invasion and internal threats. 3Dstereo They were built territorially: training centers were set up across the then-six provinces between January and March 1960, with hundreds of thousands organized into battalions, companies, and platoons, progressing from patrols to companies to numbered combat battalions. 3Dstereo These battalions fought at Playa Girón (April 1961) and in the Escambray anti-insurgent campaigns — the "Limpia del Escambray" (Dec 1960–Mar 1961) alone fielded some 60,000 men in about 80 militia battalions under Rebel Army officers. Wooacry Documented battalion numbers run well into the hundreds (e.g., 116, 225, 339, 345), so Batallón 156 fits the numbering and the 1959–1961 formation window — consistent with the pin and firmly in range — even though the specific unit isn't traceable online.