[mgc]

After many years of collecting British badges of the great war period I have in the last decade or so collected only OSD badges of the same period, mostly because of the restrike situation.
One thing I've always wondered is the difference between gilding metal and brass. Is there a difference or same thing?
Also, I've found a huge difference in hardness of brass with some almost impossible to bend by hand while others are extremely soft. I've always considered the hardness as one of the indicators of a genuine badge with the extremely soft badges relegated to modern junk. Same goes for white metal.
From the experience of other collectors on this board, is this an accurate assessment? Thanks!