New collector RAF wwii cap badge
 

Hello!

I’m new to collecting and am interested in this badge. Seller isn’t sure of the dates. I’m just wondering if it is authentic or not and how I would tell either way.

Thanks for your help

Hello nightingale, welcome to the Forum. Your account is active and open for posts.

In use from 1919 into the mid 1950s. Very common and has had the RAF letters heavily cleaned to lose the detail and make the badge shine more/catch the light. This is common with RAF Other Ranks cap badges. Badge would be worth a little bit more if in 'as issued' condition. You should certainly be able to get one within the £5-£10 range. It would have been made by more than one manufacturer so you will see slight variations. Plenty on ebay. Welcome to the forum. Regards, Paul.

Is it struck or cast? At first glance I thought cast, but I'm not sure.

Struck leigh, just a bad scan. 👍

Ta.

I'd expect a mint badge for £5, and the badge pictured above less than half IMO.

I’m with Andy on this one. These badges are still extremely common and usually one of the first a collector gets. I still remember mine was given to me by a dealer at a fair many years ago. For a badge in this condition under a fiver I’d suggest.

I do agree on the value of under £5 for the pictured badge-£5-£10 relates to prices on ebay at the moment. Some sellers are rather hopeful with the price they start at with this badge. A good Queens Crown GM badge is harder to find- and I was recently told by Dragon166 the QC GM badge was still being issued in 1969. Regards, Paul. PS Would the Kings Crown RAF badge be the most common British cap badge? Other contender being RA?

The most common badge - candidates could be the RA grenade, the GG grenade cap star, the generic collar / shoulder / "trade" grenade. And as for the GS button.......

Isn't the grenadiers a tad small to compare the size of the old Raf, they seem to have demobilised 275,000 men alone between the end of ww1 and 1920.

ASC - over 300,000 men during WWI.

Thank you so much for all of your help and a great welcome to this forum!