Beware!
 

Another ebay seller has appeared, possibly be another well known driver under a different user name..... (same badges, same postal rate, similar listings, hidden bidders identity). I'm not naming directly but to help out here's a couple of clues.

1. These people usually wear pointed hats with stars on them....Merlin was one.

......followed by four numbers

2. The first date usually found on the South Africa battle honour.

All the usual crap being sold, Victorian 21st Lancers, etc.

Must point out thought these items are NOT being listed as genuine.

Beware
 

Thanks Keith,
Has anybody else noticed the rash of Home Guard unit designations that also seem to have appeared recently on E bay ?
Any thoughts appreciated

P.B.

Funny really,

My mate from Merthyr assures me South Wales is an absolute desert for finding cap badges yet the amount of (never ending father's) collections which turn up are astounding.

http://globalguest.com/gb1/BADGES/guestbook.html

This dealer's guest book is most interesting.

what site is the guestbook for?
 

The guest book is mostly spam. Why no removal of this I don't know. I clicked on the 'Badges' link to have a look-see, however I got a link to the free guest book program.

I have very few dealer sites that I visit (good or bad). I am always looking for new ones.

If you have the sites URL, could you please post it? Thanks.

PM sent.

Alan

Start of the Fakes
 

In 1989 I saw an advert in Exchange and Mart,,Military Badges £1 each so sent for catalogue to M Marsh,,they had a pictorial catalogue of every badge known and all at £1-£2 each,,that started the flood in army badges for sale,
Then one day I bought a Copy of Gunmart and in there was a guy called Green selling Brass badges of all British military badges then 6 month after that all the extremely rare Scottish Militia and yeomanary and Volunteer badges started to appear that one could only read about, after that the hobby of badge collecting was ruined,,even today on Ebay one is scared to buy any badges in case they are recently made.Im sure like many here,I collected badges in 60s-80s they were hard to find and most were either made of Nickel,or Bronze,,wasnt anything called white metal (otherwise tin or alloy) as an ex Black Watch man I always liked the way Scottish badges were slightly domed in middle,then appeared flat badges and they all look ghastly,I gave up after 80s was to risky getting fingers burnt buying rubbish as some fakes were so good,so I restricted myself if they didnt have Gaunt or Lewis etc on back I wouldnt buy.

Its like Ebay i would say 98% are fake.another good hobby ruined.

Restrikes
 

I have collected badges for many years and have bought a good many from ebay, yes there are a hell of a lot of restrikes but if you study who is selling what on a regular basis you get a good idea who is to be trusted and who is selling modern strikes. I know this is not foolproof and I have bought the odd badge that I have thought was wrong. If it is advertised as a restrike then fair enough, but if it's not and often this is done by someone who has picked up a job lot at a car boot sale with no knowledge of badges, then return the item and ask for a refund, I always leave positive feedback and have never had a problem.
Incidently, last week there was a Cambridgeshire cap badge which was advertised on ebay as a restrike because the first "e" was missing. It was absolutely correct and someone got a bargain!
I take your point about Black Watch badges being concave, but I have a T.F.4/5/6/7 Btn cap badge which was given to me by my cousin over fifty years ago with the most ghastly wide copper slider lead soldered on the back. I have since replaced this with two loops, this badge is as flat as the proverbial pancake, but I have no doubt of it's authenticity.

Totally agree about the Scottish badges - all my BW are nicely domed except for the TF one which is very flat. It is however not in perfect condition but very genuine. I can only put this down to the TF buying badges privately prior to 1916 (when the WD did not run on the blank sphinx badge but gave the TF the normal one) which were made by other suppliers.

Alan

All TF badges (& presum VB badges before 1908) bought their own "privately" before 1915 (though the relevant AO was publ 1916) when the WO provided them. I suppose there were some County Associations that were richer than others but most bought cheaper items - not being able to afford a Gaunts or whoever.

finished
 

BOY am I ever gladI am finished collecting Army cap badges,After about a month visiting this forum it seems to be a nightmare,Let no one say that this is a useless site. Very informative. Ray