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  #1  
Old 20-09-17, 12:31 PM
carruthers carruthers is offline
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Default Blackened Gloucestershire Cap Badge

Hello all,

I've just purchased this blackened Gloucestershire regiment cap badge. The dealer I bought it from said that it would clean up into a decent OR silver example which is what I wanted.

I've heard of cap badges been blacked in the Great War and wanted to check that this badge isn't valuable in anyway becaus of the finish, before I clean it off.

Many thanks,
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  #2  
Old 20-09-17, 12:58 PM
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manchesters manchesters is offline
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Hello,

By silver I understand you to mean White Metal and with that in mind I can say that WM does not go that colour on its own with dirt.

It has had a finish applied to it by a person.

the 4th (TF) Bn wore a blackened badge but with a blank plinth. There is no reason to think that some members of the Bn. who didnt have a blank plinth badge didnt blacken up a regular pattern like yours and so thats a possibility.

the other possibility is that a chemical coating has been applied to make a fake badge look real.

I would hope its the former and not the latter but would welcome comments from others.

In the meantime please dont clean it.

regards
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  #3  
Old 20-09-17, 02:15 PM
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KLR KLR is offline
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I agree - don't clean it (I did that once and since learning more about badges I deeply regret having done so)


Apart from the 4th Bn there are other possibilities - both on private initiatives.


In the 1st WW badges were often blackened in order to prevent a glint being seen.


In the 2nd WW the Home Guard units that wore a county regiment badge (quite common) are also thought to have blackened these badges - for the same reason !
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  #4  
Old 20-09-17, 02:42 PM
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Paul Spellman Paul Spellman is offline
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Im sure this is a nice example of a post WW1 upto 1925/6 5th Bn badge. prior to losing Rifles status.
I would leave it as is or I could swap you for a whitemetal version
Paul

You should not confuse the 4th with the 5th despite what some books say

Last edited by Paul Spellman; 20-09-17 at 03:03 PM.
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  #5  
Old 21-09-17, 12:40 PM
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Alan O Alan O is offline
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There are lots of photos that show the 4th and 5th Bn in WW1 wearing white metal badges. Here are some:
http://www.ww1photos.org/regiment/gl...hire-regiment/


The badge looks genuine enough but I would need convincing that the blacking has a TF connection.

Last edited by Alan O; 08-10-23 at 06:02 PM.
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