Badge collecting

[Just John]

Hello,

Have recently become more interested in WWII British cap badges, and would like to pick up a few for my collection. I'm an absolute novice, and was in hopes that someone might be able to point me to a reference work or two, or maybe enlighten me on a few things to look out for concerning original and repro badges.

A local antiques shop has a couple of badges that the owner claims are WWII for around fifteen dollars each, a West Yorkshire regimental badge, and a North Staffordshire regimental badge. If they are indeed original, hope that it's the start of a modest collection.

Thanks to all for reading, and thank you in advance for any advice you might be willing to give.

John

[ROBB]

Hi just John .Stop now . Its practically impossible IMO to tell a genuine cap badge from a restrike .The only cap badges I have are worn and beaten up or come from the vet.Buttons are cheaper and just as interesting and as far as I know are not being reproduced .Rob.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi John, welcome to the forum and to British collecting too

Have a good read of as many of the old threads here as you can. Re - strikes are a problem but often the back of the badge is the best give-away. Try and show any prospective purchases here before you take the plunge? There are often some good cap badges for sale via the E Stand.

Try and decide on a theme and stick to it such as Infantry Regts, etc. Also decide on a timeline too.

Cheers, Ade.

[lnijherald]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum!
It is often hard to tell a genuine badge from a restrike, personally I can only spot a few restrike badges right away so I get burned sometimes.
An original badge is "nice" in my opinion, and that is hard to describe.
It can be the amount of detail, the construction of a bi-metal badge, the patina, the amount of wear....

I've been told "Headdress badges of the British Army" volumes I and II by Kipling and King are good references.

Yes please show us badges you're interested in buying, you'll get plenty of opinions quickly.
Cheers, Luc

[SHEARING-CROSS]

Hi there and welcome ,
british cap badges ,even the quite common ones have been reproduced ( re strikes) as AIDE quite rightly said try to pick a theme first such as `only scots badges 1914-1945 ` or all the support arms first, medical , engineers ,signals etc ,there has been some great threads on here about cap badges over the last few months which i learned a lot from ,well worth a trawl back through .
As regards telling originals from copies it takes lots and lots of practice , each collector has his own little rule some like a heavy badge , some guys like a strong non bending badge then you have the `slider flickers ` some collectors like the rear slider to be very strong and springy as a sign of an original.
As ROB says ,i too think this area of collecting is becoming a bit of a mine field and the few i have got again came from vets who served , not trying to be negative but the copies today after they have been aged can be very good .
If you think you really want to collect capbadges and are getting pasionate over the subject , a safe way to collect is contact one of the specialist UK cap badge dealers that produce a mail order list , one that offers a cast iron promise all badges are original and give a full, no questions asked refund.This way of collecting is a little ` clinical ` its great to buy from junk markets or trawl through e,bay for bargins !! but is a good way to start untill you feel more experienced .
A good basic guide to get is the book MILITARY BADGE COLLECTING / JOHN GAYLOR you should find a copy on e,bay , best wishes ,Michael.

[leigh kitchen]

It's not impossible to tell a genuine from a fake - yet, but in years to come it no doubt will be as hands on knowledge & experience is watered down & the fakes become older & accepted as the real thing.

It's extremely easy to tell some badges are genuine & some fake, but there is a middle group which are hard to tell one way or the other, where you really have to weigh everything up & decide whether your going to risk your money on something.

The common sense attitude really is if you don't know, don't buy, but most of us take chances & then sit & agonise later.

[SHEARING-CROSS]

Hiya , i know off a british based militaria dealer who `puts away ` EVERY pre 1960 capbadge in a box ( his old age fund ) his argument is in 10 years time good original ones ,even common examples will be very hard to find ??

is that geezer ` Martin Marsh ` still around ????/

Michael.

[leigh kitchen]

Was he based in Cambridge, also a jeweler?