Armor badge question

[Para82nd]

Grab photo #4 and the polish badge! I would really like that Polish badge if you don't want it

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Jim, in answer to your question and not regardin originality or not.

The Canadian Royal Tank Regt is WW2. The "RAC" cap badge was used 1939 to 1941. It was superceeded by the next badge the mailed fist "RAC" badge used from 1941 onwards. (These were mainly used in training units.) The next one with "Tank Corps" is the WW1 era badge used 1917 to 1922.


Cheers, Ade.

[leigh kitchen]

I can't tell if genuine or not from photos but the WWI badge (4) appears to be silver coloured rather than it's correct brass?
From the photos it appears to me to be the badge most suspect.
I don't see anything alarming about the Canadian tankie badge compared to the rest.
I would'nt want to buy them unless I at least got a view of the backs. May be good, may be bad.
The British badges are'nt exactly rare, I don't know if it's worth risking money on e-bay when they can be picked up fairly cheaply from dealers in Britain - certainly the ordinary dealers rather than the high falutin' high priced guys with the pretty web sites.

Polish ones always look nice, I have only a few Polish WWII or pre war badges, & I'm sure most of those are fake. These badges have been faked for years & can be very convincing. I'd love some but I'm not risking money based on photos, I don't know enough, I leave these to the guys who know what they're doing.

Just found a print out of a page on fake Polish (don't know which site offhand), printed it out October 2002:

"Let's start with the most basic observation: if the spin disc of a badge bears the name of PANASIUK or OLSZEWSKI, the item is almost certainly a modern reproduction. These two prolific Warsaw makers are responsible for about 90% of the Polish "prewar" badges presently on the market. Their products are facsimiles, not fakes, and they sell them for about $10 - 15 apiece. It is only the ignorant / dishonest dealers who misrepresent them as originals, "later strikes", etc".


Another page on fakes lists badge makers 1914 - 39, neither of the above manufacturers are in the list.

Dr Wesolowski considers that up to 90% of Polish items on the collectors market to be fake (well, he did 2 years ago). Assumption being the mother of cock up I know, I assume that he's refering to WWII & prewar badges, not post war communist etc.

I really do wish I knew more about Polish stuff..

[Jim Baker]

Thanks guys, great info!!

Can you give me a heads up on a decent dealer? I really only want to pick up a few armor badges.

Thanks,
Jim

[leigh kitchen]

The sort of dealer you need is more the reputable corner shop stamps, coins, medals & badges man, I'll check out some prices at one of the shops hopefully tomorrow, take photos of the badges on display with their prices?
Arrange paypal at cost if suitable?
The basic WWI tanky badge should be about £5 - £6, the WWI about £9 - £12 at a guess.

[Jim Baker]

Hello Leigh,

Thanks so much. I'm definitely interested in WWII era at the moment. If you find something nice, PM me and I'll give you my email address.

Again, thanks for your help.

Jim

[max7474]

I ment the 4th pic, yeah thats definately original, a good pick up if u can get it. I know I would.

The tank corps badge could well be a copy. If it has lugs don't touch it. There was also a pattern with more voids (holes) especially under the crown and at the bottom left hand corner. I have seen this type with the solid areas but it has been copied a lot so be wary of them. The originals only had sliders.

[max7474]

RAC badge

[QUOTE=Adrian Stevenson]Hi Jim, in answer to your question and not regardin originality or not.

The Canadian Royal Tank Regt is WW2. The "RAC" cap badge was used 1939 to 1941. It was superceeded by the next badge the mailed fist "RAC" badge used from 1941 onwards. (These were mainly used in training units.) The next one with "Tank Corps" is the WW1 era badge used 1917 to 1922.


The originals tend to have a solid 'bar' of brass connecting the slider to the back of the badge to help strengthen the crown where as copies just have the normal slider going straight on to the back of the badge.