19th County of London
 

Hi All

Just registered after finding the site through Google. I'm not a collector myself but my Uncle is and has quite a collection of cap badges, mostly of British regiments from WW1. I occasionally have a hunt for him and have managed to get hold of some real beauties that he's had trouble finding himself.

Whilst recently looking for a couple on ebay, I stumbled across a cap badge from the regiment my Grandfather served in, the 19th London (St. Pancras) and managed to get it for myself in remembrance of him - really chuffed with it and have attached a picture of it.

Dave

Dave,

They came blackened and in brass or w/m depending on the type of uniform being worn. I would not polish it at all.

Alan

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum, as Alan says the badge came in a blackened brass variety so is best left as is. I believe yours is a restrike I'm afraid, my uncle has a J.R.Gaunt marked brass one which is certainly a restrike and yours appears to come from the same die, if you look at the '0' of '0f' (in the 'county of London' title) its very oval and noticeably askew to the left the further up the 'o' goes. Sorry.

Cheers,

Luke

incidentally if you are looking for a genuine one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ORIGINAL-19TH-...ayphotohosting

I am afraid Luke is correct here. The metal is a very yellow brass typical of the copies.

For interest apart from the different metals there are 2 variations of this badge. One has the South Africa War dates of 1900-02 while the other has 1899 to 1902. Which was the correct date I do not know.

The only thing that has concerned me is the wide slider on the all brass one as I know some people believe that wide tapered sliders were early fakes? - the badge itself is perfect mind you.

Alan

Alan

1900 was the correct date and 1899 the rarer mistake. Its not uncommon for XIX th Battalion badges to be seen with what almost appears to be an 'FN' style slider. I can't see anything obviously wrong with that brass one, my ones slider has a fairly severe taper... remember 7th City of London badges come with sliders which often have a strong taper also and these are perfectly alright.

Luke

Luke,

Thanks. I will copy this to the Infantry thread and invite further comment.

Alan

below my 19th london

brass 1900--02 from my grand father collection
blackned 1899-02 buy in GB (i hope it's a genuine one....)

Hello Luke,
How are you ? well I hope.
I was going to ask you to put me out of my misery, re my 19th London, bought as a 100% original from the states, too long ago to do anything about it !!!
I will not buy from the suggested link but I do have to ask why his descriptions are so tardy, it doesn't look like it's blackened brass to me !!
All the best,
Dave.:(
PS, I bought this one after asking the seller for a photo of the back, I thought it looked OK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!oops.

Hi Dave,

I'm good ta :D how's yourself?

Afraid its the same restrike die again mate, it looks to be honest pretty shoddy on the back, no age to it, poor reverse detail, is lugged (the latter is not a condemning feature but I feel far more comfortable with London badges from this period being slidered) and damningly its double struck on the reverse. Sorry :(

Cheers,

Luke

19th London
 

Cheers Luke,
As always, your time is very much appreciated !!!
As soon as I read your remarks about the 'o' in the 'of' and looked at mine, I knew what you were going to say.
It's funny how different people see different things, when I looked at the back, what stood out for me was the colour of the lugs, they look old, I thought, I never even knew about the slider verses lugs issue !!!:o
Anyway, like always, I'm sure the right one will come along eventually.
Again, thanks again.
Regards.
Dave:D

Dave,

Not to say that london badges never had lugs (FS Cap badges apart). But as they were introduced in 1908 as new designs, importantly with new sealed patterns, it was around this time that sliders were becoming the norm. Certainly by 1916-37 when the WD ordered these badges, the slider fitting would have been the norm.

Alan