What are Genuine pins?

Short answer: a Genuine pin is a Counter-Strike collectible that was issued with a redeemable Steam code. The code is what makes it Genuine — and no new ones have been issued since 2018.

That sentence hides most of what actually matters, so here is the long version. This page is written by people who handle these codes daily, and it includes the parts that are inconvenient to mention.

1. What the "Genuine" quality actually is

Counter-Strike marks items with a quality. Most collectible pins in circulation carry no special quality at all — they were opened from in-game capsules and can be traded and sold like any other item.

Genuine is different. It marks an item that entered an account through a redeemed code rather than through an in-game capsule or a trade. In the inventory it shows as a green Genuine prefix in front of the name: not "Howl Pin" but "Genuine Howl Pin".

Two items with the same artwork can therefore be worlds apart in rarity. The artwork is identical; the provenance is not. When collectors talk about pins being expensive, they almost always mean the Genuine version.

2. Where the codes came from

Genuine codes were issued in three limited runs between 2016 and 2018. Each run put a fixed number of codes into the world, and redeeming one granted the matching pin in-game with the Genuine quality attached.

The supply was therefore capped by something entirely outside the game, years ago and once only. There is no drop, no case, no in-game capsule and no event that produces more — which makes Genuine pins structurally different from almost everything else in a Counter-Strike inventory.

3. The three series

Thirty-three pins across three series, eleven each.

Within each series the individual pins are far from equally common. A handful — Guardian Elite, Howl, Dust II, Brigadier General — surface so rarely that months can pass without a single one being offered anywhere, at any price. Others appear regularly. The full catalogue with current prices is here.

4. How redeeming works

A Genuine pin is not delivered by trade. There is no trade offer, no trade hold and no waiting period, because nothing changes hands inside Steam's trading system. You receive a product code and activate it yourself:

• Open the Steam client (the desktop application, not the website)
• Menu bar: Games → Activate a Product on Steam…
• Enter the code
• The pin appears in your Counter-Strike inventory carrying the Genuine quality

That is the entire process, and it works the same way a game key does. Because the item is granted to your account directly, it is yours the moment the code is accepted.

5. The part most guides skip

This has a consequence worth stating plainly, because it cuts against how these items are often talked about: a Genuine pin is a collectible, not a liquid asset. Once it is on your account it cannot be sold or moved anywhere, at any price. Unredeemed codes do change hands, but only through direct dealing with someone both parties trust — there is no exchange, no order book and no price feed.

Buy one because you want it in your inventory. That is a good reason, and it is the honest one.

6. Why prices differ so much

Three things set the price of a Genuine pin, and only one of them is visible in-game:

• How many codes were issued at the time — decided years ago, unchangeable
• How many have already been redeemed — every redemption permanently removes one from circulation, so supply only ever shrinks
• How many people want that specific design — the Howl carries the weight of the skin it depicts; a map pin generally does not

The result is a spread from a few hundred dollars to five figures for artwork that cost the same to produce. It also explains why availability, not price, is usually the binding constraint: for the rarest pins the question is rarely "how much" but "is there one at all".

7. How to check a pin is really Genuine

• Look at the name. The inventory shows the Genuine prefix in green. No prefix, no Genuine quality — regardless of what a listing claims.
• Check whether it is tradeable. A Genuine pin sitting in an inventory is untradeable and unmarketable. An item advertised as Genuine that can be traded is not Genuine.
• An unredeemed code cannot be verified from the outside. Nobody can prove a code is valid without redeeming it, and redeeming it is what consumes it. This is precisely why reputation is the only real protection when buying one, and why any serious seller has a long, public, checkable trading history.

8. Quick answers

Are Genuine pins still obtainable?

Only from someone holding an unredeemed code. There is no in-game source.

Do Genuine pins do anything in the game?

They are cosmetic. A pin displays on your profile and in-game badge slot; it gives no gameplay advantage.

Is a Genuine pin the same as the pin from an in-game capsule?

No. Same artwork, different item. The in-game capsule version is tradeable and generally worth a small fraction.

Can a redeemed pin be transferred to another account?

No. That is the defining property of the quality.

What happens if I lose access to the account?

The pin goes with it. Redeem on the account you intend to keep.

How long does a purchase take?

You receive a code, so there is nothing to wait for and no trade window. The only variable is how quickly the seller hands the code over.