1st VB Cornwall Regt
 

Hi,

Very recently aquired this badge from local dealer.

What conflict (age) is it and is it fake. No makers mark, slider to reverse.

Thank you.

That wouldn't be the famous dealer in South Wales by any chance. If it is, its a fake. The finish on the back is a bit of a give-away.

Thebadge is pretending to be a pre-1908 Volunteer Battalion badge. But I do not believe that the badge is original. The slider looks wrong, it appears to be artificially aged and the scroll is a common fake. It is also seen added to Dorsetshire badges, Ox and Bucks LI and some others.

Alan

Cornwall Light Infantry 1st Volunteer
 

Hi,

Just found this cap badge. Can anyone shed some light on it. Is it genuine, haven't seen one like this before!

Thanks for the help!!:confused:

These badges have been widely faked using fake plaques added onto genuine and fake Cornwall badges. Very often the metals do not match up exposing the fact that the plaque has been added on to at a later date. The badge should pre-date 1908 and I am dubious as to whether sliders were ever correct. I would ask the seller for a picture of the back to judge for yourself whether it is indeed 100 years old before bidding as it is easy for people to get confused when selling things on ebay.

To show the amount of these about a quick trawl on Ebay shows a second cheaper one here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CORNWALL-LIGHT...1%7C240%3A1318
The seller does not date it and it is described as new.
There is another ''version' which uses an additional scroll added on the botttom which is also seen on Dorsetshire and other Bns.

As to the authenticity of VB badges in general on Ebay, there are several dealers out there who fill their stock lists by buying up the few genuine rare badges that do appear on Ebay - any genuine VB badge would be worth £40-100. The occasional genuine VB badges listed are quickly spotted and sniped by these dealers. If the badge is going for £6 you have to ask yourself why they are not being snapped up and featuring on these dealers' websites.

Alan

There is no doubt that this is a fake badge, there are hundreds if not thousands of them about either with the central plate of added lower scroll. However the comment regarding pre-1908 sliders on Volunteer Battalion badges being incorrect is wrong.

Browse through any Bosleys catalogue and you'll see plenty. VB's sourced and funded their own badges and any ACD ruling didn't apply to them. Even after 1908 when they became part of the Territorial Force this was still the case. Even IY badges are often found with sliders, The Montgomeryshire and Stafforshire Yeomanry being typical examples.

Viletone

A fair point and as 'dubious' rather than adamant about it then I am quite happy to be corrected. The ACD order came in in 1903/6 and the VB did not cease until 1908 so the dates overlap. The ACD did not take over provision of the TF badges until 1915 so there is plenty of latitude here.

I would point out that the Staffs Yeomanry badge with the QVC crown seems to have been in use until WW2 so the slidered badges need not be pre1901. There is a very good thread on this in the yeomanry section.

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...=staffordshire The photo of QOSY's father from the late thirties is great.

Alan

I wasn't aware of the Staffs Yeomanry being worn for such a long period, interesting. There are a lot of irregularities, harking back to Bosleys again they recently auctioned two 3rd VB Essex Regiment from the Hugh King collection, the earlier pre-South Africa honour badge was slidered and the later post-1905 version was lugged.