Royal engineers cast ?

[appie_b]

Hello,

I have this royal engineers badge for a while, today when I was photographing some of my badges I had a closer look at the back of this one, it looks more cast than struck to me and as far as I know most of these have sliders instead of lugs.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this one ?

Albert.

[billy]

I have similar but with slider if this helps- for comparrison

[appie_b]

Hello,

Assuming that the badge has lugs does not mean anything, but does the fact that the badge is cast, says anything as to where the badge was used / made

Albert.

[2747andy]

Albert,
I've a lugged one of these too! I'm not sure they are cast to be honest, just struck from thicker sheet metal, hence lack of rear detail!

Andy

[Sonofacqms]

I think as Andy says that these are struck from a thicker sheet of metal thereby losing some detail. Original Victorian cap badges all seem to be struck from a thinner sheet of metal giving very fine detail to the front and reverse, just an opinion . . !

Rob

[Tim B.]

Bringing this one back for a more basic question.

Were there ever original cast badges with sliders?

Tim

[Phil2M]

could this be an osd without the bronzing finish?

[tonyb]

Originally Posted by Phil2M

could this be an osd without the bronzing finish?

Hello Phil, the OSD RE badges I've come across are voided between the garter and leaves.
Cheers Tony.

[fougasse1940]

Albert's badge is a possible post War OR's beret badge, hence the lugs. It is die stamped but with less reverse detail than usual.
Some OR's lugged but unvoided between laurel wreath and garter were made bronzed or gilded, possibly for WO1's, or both to fill a shortage of proper voided officers badges.

Rgds, Thomas.

[Tim B.]

The reason I asked if "original" badges were cast is, I recently acquired this badge.

It didn't cost me anything in the end as it arrived with the right side of the wreath and crown bent up and the seller just let me keep it. Once I knew I didn't have to return it, I carefully bent it back using a small clamp.

Looking at the badge, I don't see the typical traits of a die stamped badge as the details are somewhat soft, the edges are rough and there appears to be some fill in the corners, typical of a casting.

However, the badge is quite thin and the details pretty much mirror the front. Casts are typically thicker and filled in on the reverse to some point. I also would have expected a cast to crack when I bent it; it didn't. It also looks somewhat copperish in the base metal.

Is it possible it was a ground dug and the "cast fill" is actually corrosion?

I'll add some detailed pics to follow so I can show/ask some specific details. I don't want to hi-jack the thread here but thought it would add to a similar question and might add to the thread overall.

[Tim B.]

A couple shots of the front showing the rough appearance.

- I see what appears to be old polish residue, which could be a good sign.

- The top of the crown is a bit taller and I thought I remember reading something on another thread that fakes have this trait, though I don't know if that applies to all badges.

- The second shot shows the crown and the fill in the left void.

- I see no edge striations on the badge but haven't really studied it that much.

[Tim B.]

Last shot, showing the reverse.

- Looking at the edges, it appears stamped.

- Note the crown top is curled a bit.

- Then, there's that "cast fill" look again towards the lower part of the badge.

- Also, note the slider and how the end is shaped; different from the other badges I have. Also appears almost pitted to some degree but sometimes when doing macro photos, details can look different from in-hand. Slider measures ~ 39.6 mm shoulder to tip.

Thoughts?

Tim

[badgecollector]

hi tim
i am no expert but your badge looks cast and not stamped.
its rough and has the tell tale pitting in areas. not one i would look at twice.
the original badge shown looks completely different and as already mentioned is probably die struck of a thicker brass
bc

[magpie]

It's not cast , probably a metal detector find that has been cleaned giving the pitted appearance, just my opinion.

[appie_b]

Hi

I can confirm that my badge in the original post is not cast, at the time of posting the original post I did not have seen/handled cast badges and I was lacking the knowledge I gained by 6 more years on this forum

I agree with magpie that Tim's badge is not cast, but corroded. This is also visible on the slider.

Regards,

Albert.