"ueens" Own Oxfordshire Hussars

[Passivate]

I found this in an auction lot. It was quite exciting until I realised that the maker couldn't spell "Queens". This is the second auction lot I have bought in the south of England where I have noticed a few odd items. I wonder if this is the new e-Bay or just coincidence?

Best regards

Andrew

[Drummajor]

Looks like the end of the scroll is missing.
Phil.

[Hoot]

Clearly a mis-struck badge. I'm surprised it got past quality control to the point of having lugs fitted.

[Frank Kelley]

A quick glance at the reverse suggests to me that it is of recent manufacture, was it from a particular saleroom in the South of England, or did you just buy it from an ebay seller?

Originally Posted by Passivate

I found this in an auction lot. It was quite exciting until I realised that the maker couldn't spell "Queens". This is the second auction lot I have bought in the south of England where I have noticed a few odd items. I wonder if this is the new e-Bay or just coincidence?

Best regards

Andrew

[Alan O]

Alas this is one of the yeomanry badges that has been widely faked with a number of fake dies being produced with a variety of crowns.

[William]

Hilarious. I wonder if one day,in perhaps a few decades only, these things might be regarded with as much respect as originals?

Thanks for sharing, Andrew. Highly entertaining!

William

[Passivate]

Thanks everybody for the input. i too thought that someone had eaten the end of the scroll but I realised that it was actually intact, just slipped. Such fine tolerances!

More seriously, it is easy to become paranoid when you do buy a group of badges and once you spot something odd you start to conjure up images of a fraud mastermind putting together these groups - slipping a few good ones in to make the unsuspecting - like me - think that it is a real find.

I have now bought tow bundles at one auction house in Send and another in Thatcham - both respectable but as I am new to auctions I am not sure either how often these packages turn up or how reliable these collections are - you seldom have the opportunity to speak to the owner.

I recently read an article outlining what to look for to spot a fake and it seemed that unless it is pretty obvious it is almost impossible without a DNA test. With the indulgence of the group I will put up a couple from the same batch which seem to me to have some attributes of not quite right - according to the article I read.

Thanks all

Andrew

[wardog]

What's the name of the Thatcham Auction? Regards, Paul.

I'm not sure that auction houses are totally to blame. Many provincial houses have little or no knowledge of militaria or other specialist areas for that matter, and I know many rely of the so called knowledge of the vendor. I rarely buy from auction houses for that reason. That said there are gems to be found but you need to be very very careful. Caveat emptor

Does naming auction houses help? Yes I think it does if they claim to be military experts and run sales with large quantities of military items.

In the UK Nazi items are even more of a minefield than cap badges and many auction houses selling through salesroom.com etc put specific disclaimers on all Nazi items.

There are some very basic rules for cab badges but the fakers are becoming more sophisticated.
- Soft or easily bent metal particularly sliders
- Poor definition on the rear of the badge
- maker marks in the wrong font size
- if a badge looks new it probably is.

I'm not an expert as forum members will know as I'm always asking questions but following the basics will go some way to weeding out the fakes.

J

[wardog]

I know Special Auction Services are at the Greenham Business Park, (Old RAF Greenham Common) just wondered if there are other auctions being held in Thatcham. Regards, Paul.

[Passivate]

It was SAS at Thatcham, Paul. I would not blame them specifically, although the missing "Q" was a bit of a clue. All lots are freely open to be examined by potential buyers and clearly a bit of caveat emptor is worth recalling.

It seems to me that there are now so many fakes doing the rounds that being sure is quite difficult. An individual examination of seventy items would take some time so there is an element of luck involved. I don't think SAS would regard themselves as experts in this field or specialists. A German helmet listed at £100 sold for almost £1000!

My concern, having attended two such auctions is that there might be a concerted, organised effort to pass a large number of fakes, but one would hope that the auction houses would satisfy themselves (not sure how!) that the seller was bona fide.

Maybe it was just a former collector who himself had been duped or not noticed the missing "Q"! There were other badges in the group that appear to be sound, but who knows now!!

Best regards

Andrew