J R Gaunt marked badges & eBay

[Cleeman]

As a relative newbie to collecting WW1 era cap badges, I am somewhat dismayed to read on here, and other sources, of unscrupulous (or just plain ignorant) sellers on eBay selling "guaranteed original" cap badges with the J R Gaunt marked sliders. I have recently acquired a number of these so-called "guaranteed original" badges with the J R Gaunt B'Ham mark, which I now read on here are highly likely to be reproduction badges.
Is there anyone on this forum that can give a definitive guide of what to avoid or look out for (whether it be J R Gaunt or any other mark) and pin it to the top of this forum for everyone to read and refer to.
As a member of other forums for another hobby of mine, "suggested sellers" are included with a kind of feedback system for recommendations etc. Is this possible here?
All the help and assistance would be appreciated, as this new hobby of mine could become extremely expensive if all I am collecting is re-strikes, copies and fakes.
Thanks

[2747andy]

Originally Posted by Cleeman

As a relative newbie to collecting WW1 era cap badges, I am somewhat dismayed to read on here, and other sources, of unscrupulous (or just plain ignorant) sellers on eBay selling "guaranteed original" cap badges with the J R Gaunt marked sliders. I have recently acquired a number of these so-called "guaranteed original" badges with the J R Gaunt B'Ham mark, which I now read on here are highly likely to be reproduction badges.
Is there anyone on this forum that can give a definitive guide of what to avoid or look out for (whether it be J R Gaunt or any other mark) and pin it to the top of this forum for everyone to read and refer to.
As a member of other forums for another hobby of mine, "suggested sellers" are included with a kind of feedback system for recommendations etc. Is this possible here?
All the help and assistance would be appreciated, as this new hobby of mine could become extremely expensive if all I am collecting is re-strikes, copies and fakes.
Thanks

The makers mark section is quite a good reference;

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/mak...ks/sliders.htm

and also this thread;

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...ad.php?t=34586

There was a "Dealers" list many moons ago, but many of them were the sort that sold B'Ham marked badges as genuine and most still do;

http://www.clanfieldmilitaria.com/vi...h=56137&phqu=2

I don't think in all cases it is dishonesty, just a touch of ignorance? You can find the odd B'Ham marked badge turning up on even the most "reputable" dealers lists!

Andy

[ubervamp]

Hi

Here's a link to the Makers Marks project right here on the forum:

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/mak...ks/sliders.htm

And for Gaunt in particular:

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/makers_marks/gaunt.htm

As for what to look out for in general, there's plenty of threads discussing almost every badge and variations and suspected fakes. If you do a search on a given badge, you'll probably find what you need to know Or just ask the forum, or post a pic of any badge you have concerns about!

A "suggested sellers" list has been suggested on here before. For several reasons the idea was abandoned. I'm sure these threads are still around somewhere if you want to learn why
The best bet to ensure genuine badges is buying from Forum members.
Andy's www.sellmymilitaria.com could be a good place to start!


Cheers

Colin

[gb64]

Hello Cleeman,

Welcome to the wonderfull art of cap badge collecting it seems [well to me !! anyway] daunting sometimes to try to remember all the golden rules to look out for on our beloved badges,makes my head spin sometimes but with regards to Gaunt marks the main one to look out for that is on all repro badges is the 15mm J.R.GAUNT.LONDON having the dot between Gaunt & London & 15mm in length is a no go for sure, but the same mark but a smaller 11mm is said to be ok,if you take a look at the current projects maker mark section it is very helpfull to show known maker marks good & bad,& with regards to Gaunt B'ham it would be safe to say that 95% of metal badges that carry that maker mark are repro but some aa badges are ok with the B'ham mark,there are threads on this subject if you have a look through which will help with all marks, as with a lot of things in collecting cap badges i find is about dates,dates as to when regts wore certain badges,when makers marked the badges,when they stopped or changed mark it goes on & on but this forum with plenty of helpfull members will put you right.I think the idea for suggested sellers has been discussed before but did not get to much approval ?,if you want to PM me i can advise you as to a lot of trusted sellers that i have & will always use.

Regards

Gerard

[mike c]

hi, there is a good thread on here showing most makers marks you will usually come across, personally i would be careful with any gaunt birmingham stuff and definately no gaunt london with the dot, hope this helps, you have to be careful on buying from e-bay most of it is modern restrikes, or just out and out fakes made to decieve and take your money, i would never buy anything even if i thought it was good, if the seller has a no returns policy, your better off looking on andys sell my militaria site, but im afraid we have all bought duds for good money in the begining, but if you catch badgeitis as i once saw it called on here,then you begin to no whats right, best thing i did was go to as many shows as i could then handle the badges, just to get a feel of them, even if you dont buy them most dealers dont mind you doing this, then get a few dealers who you trust and use them, thats mainly what i do now, anyway good hunting

[gb64]

There you go, two top blokes beat me to it, plenty of help around

Gerard

[Cleeman]

Thanks guys for the very fast and informative responses. Just feeling a little sorry for myself, as in my haste to develop my collection, I have obviously been caught out. Part of the learning curve I am sure. Will avoid eBay and my local collectible's store in future, as they are largely responsible for my acquisition of "dodgy" badges.
Have bought a number of badges through Andy at SMM and his eBay store (an exception of my self-imposed new rule already...!!!) and can say I am delighted with the the advice and service.
A great hobby, look forward to speaking with you guys again, especially when looking at some of the more expensive acquisitions.
Thanks again,
Andy

[2747andy]

Originally Posted by mike c

hi, there is a good thread on here showing most makers marks you will usually come across, personally i would be careful with any gaunt birmingham stuff and definately no gaunt london with the dot, hope this helps, you have to be careful on buying from e-bay most of it is modern restrikes, or just out and out fakes made to decieve and take your money, i would never buy anything even if i thought it was good, if the seller has a no returns policy, your better off looking on andys sell my militaria site, but im afraid we have all bought duds for good money in the begining, but if you catch badgeitis as i once saw it called on here,then you begin to no whats right, best thing i did was go to as many shows as i could then handle the badges, just to get a feel of them, even if you dont buy them most dealers dont mind you doing this, then get a few dealers who you trust and use them, thats mainly what i do now, anyway good hunting

Many thanks for the SMM recommendations, you can be pretty sure that it is a "Safe" environment to buy from, most of those selling their wares are Forum members and you can be assured that should anything "Dodgy" be listed, then it won't be up for long before being taken down or revised! I've also got an eBay shop now which is also a "Fake Free" venue!

Andy