Variations in the mid-size CAF (circa 1920) buttons; a rare Hemsley
 

In going through my CAF buttons (and I'm no button expert), I came across this rare GEO. F. Hemsley Co. Ltd., Montreal variety. The reader may recall that the early Canadian Air Force was only in existence from around 1919 to 1924. The buttons illustrated are all the mid-size, for pocket flaps, variety measuring between 0.65” to the larger Hemley at 0.69”. The Hemsley is also solid construction and accordingly heavier than the two Scully varieties by over 50%. I note the Hemsley has a smaller eye than the Scully’s and subjectively, I have to say it looks to be of better quality than the Scully's. It looks as if the reverse of the arbitrarily defined “Type 2” Scully has been polished to reduce the visibility of the interface between the rolled front over the back disk. It also is without the inner and outer circles of dots. To my untrained eye, the front designs all look identical and have a similar, if not identical dome shape. Perhaps surprising to find three varieties over the relatively short existence of the CAF and only I believe, in this mid-size button.

My apologies for the different look in the photos. I tried different lighting and techniques for imaging and chose the best to illustrate each example.

Regards,
Wayne Logus

Replica CAF button
 

For completeness, I’ll add that there is a 4th variant of this button. It is from the 1967 replica set made and sold to commemorate the original issue. The replica CAF set had examples representing the three sizes of buttons. This mid-size example measures 0.65” and weighs 0.58 g. The strike is noticeably of poorer quality. The reverse tends to fill over the “Scully” name and in other examples I have seen, does that with various degrees of success. The reverse impressions are never as sharp as found in the originals and this is the best way of determining a replica from the original in my opinion.