Cap Badge

[Cockayne]

At a Craft/Antiques fair today I came across a North Staffs cap badge priced at £9. I thought that was a bit too high and offered £5 which was rejected.

I would be interested to know what a reasonable price would be for such an item.

The badge was in an average condition.

Thanks

Paul

[Annette Burgoyne]

Hi Paul

My local Regt. Museum got me a Black Watch cap badge for my husdands granfather and it cost £10.

Annette

[cooper]

Hi,

In my experience I have noticed an increase in values of WW1 militaria in recent years including cap badges.

I have recently noticed varying prices for the same types of cap badge. An example is a Leeds Pals cap badge. I have seen this WW1 cap badge be advertised on one website for £12 and on another at £60!

If you look hard enough you may be lucky to find one for a few pounds, but overall they tend to realise monies around the £10 mark. This is based on the fact that the badge is not rare etc.

James

[CROONAERT]

As a rule of thumb.I think you can now expect to pay around £10 for a common cap badge (which only a year or so ago would have cost about £5-£8).Bargains are still to be had ,however,usually from people other than dealers.I'd been looking for a 10th Hussars badge for a while and ended up with 3 for a tenner from a junk market! Beware though,many copies abound.

Dave.

PS. a "Leeds Pals" badge for £12 must be a copy (unless the seller doesn't know what he's got!). £50 - £60 is more the going rate for an original.

[Guest lesley]

£10 is probably the going rate if it is in reasonable condition and not particularly rare. However it depends on how much you want it - what an item is worth is a very personal thing. As interest in the Great War increases so do prices - you only have to take a quick look on e.bay to see this. If you are happy with the price pay it - if not pass until the next time.

[Graeme Fisher]

A tenner seems a bit steep - I'd have said 6 or 7 quid for a 'common' cap badge. I accept that people only have Ebay as a reference, but 'caveat emptor' - let the buyer beware - I've seen some real nasty repro rubbish being offered at top dollar on Ebay. If you want something genuine at a reasonable price, try respected dealers like Norman Litchfield or Lew Shotton who are held up within the badge collecting fraternity as the good guys.

Another tip - if someone has cap badges but no collar dogs/shoulder titles/buttons, beware.....

If you don't want to be ripped off, patronise a respected dealer, and let the con merchants go hungry.

[Hedley Malloch]

Thee Abri Musée at Albert and Tommy's Café at Pozières sell badges of most of the regiments which saw action on the Somme for 10 Euros. Questions about their provenance are met with somewhat evasive replies, but they look good quality repros. Some genuine looking ones on sale at Delville Wood, but I did not the price.

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

Paul,

I have been collecting cap badges now since 1976 when my father gave me the collection he managed to amass during WW2 and can honestly say that what you see now at fairs and on internet sites like eBay and Speedbid are 80% re-strikes ie modern strikes almost certainly struck outside the war years period. There is nothing wrong with the trade in re-struke badges as long as dealers advertise their provenance as such. Here are a few tips for detecting orginals from re-strikes:

1. Look at the slider - on modern strikes these can be easily bent and also have crisp edges.

2. Look at the lettering on the reverse - Original badges have clear sharp lettering. A number of the tools used to strike badges now are of poor quality and this is reflected in the detail.

3. Feel the weight - Some very poor quality re-strikes are so light they can be bent by a child!

4. Look at the detail on the front - Original badges will have worn detail on the front from hours of bulling beloved by most NCOs. Re-strikes come in mint condition. Sometimes they appear with the white stains of brasso on them - avoid these at your peril as this is a sure give away to the re-strike.

Do not be fooled by the old cherry of 'This has come from a batch of badges never issued and just sold off by the MOD' - Cobblers!

The value of brass in unissued badges, shoulder titles etc was realised by the MOD years ago.

There are also some blatent mistakes to detail made by the less scrupulous. The most common is the Tank Corps (1917-1923) cap badge which you often seen with the two loop suspension. These cap badges were never produced with this type of suspension - only the slider!!!

And so I could go on. I am sure others will have other opinions or advice.

Ian

[Cockayne]

Thank you to everyone who replied and highlighting some of the pit falls to watch out for when buying these items.

Thanks

Paul

[CROONAERT]

As an add on to Ian's post,many badges have the stamp of "JR Gaunt".Apparently, J R Gaunt ,Birmingham never made king's crown badges.These were made by J R Gaunt ,London. I may have got these the wrong way round.Ian,can you correct me if I've reversed this,please?

Also,most Victorian badges had the 2 lugs rather than a slider.

Dave.

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

Dave - According to my book on military badges by R J Wilkinson-Latham it was J R Gaunt of London. However every badge I have seen with J R Gaunt stamped on the slider has been a modern re-strike. Other common names you will see are: Firmin & Son; Armfield; Hawkes and Joseph Starkey.

The two lug suspension was also easier to attach to the sort of headwear worn by the Victorian soldier.

Ian