RMLI 1866-78 Officers Shako Plate
 

Guys, can I have some opinions please on this recent acquisition. I have some reservations about it which I'll explain later but fire away please, I'd appreciate any comments, cheers,

Paul

Couple more pics.

Looks nice and original to me.
Don't know what all the holes are about though?

Regards

Paul

It looks good to me too. The enamel disc has the correct pattern in the metal behind the enamel, a little chipped but this is very common for these discs. The globe has the correct pattern land masses. The lug positioning and orientation look correct. I have attached a couple of pictures of the version that I have. The only real difference between the 2 is that mine is maker marked J&Co. The holes in the back plate look similar. The only reason I can find for these is that on mine these holes line up with the voiding in the laurel leaves on the Per Mare Per Terram part and when put together they allow some contrast in colour rather than having a solid gilt backing. The only thing I might have reservations about is - has it been re-gilded?. If it has then I would still be very happy with it and wish my version has as much gilt remaining.

Paddy

Hi Paddy, I had looked at your plate in your album as a comparison and as you can see its a pretty good match. My reservations are as follows. It is pristine, perhaps a little too pristine for a badge of that age but you could be right maybe its been re gilded. If you look at the back of the wreath its hollow backed. I've always believed RM officers plates to have semi hollow backs to the wreaths, look at your own, it looks to have a more 'solid' back to it and the definition isn't as distinct. This is the same on late Victorian and Kings crown era plates. The loops on the back, one of them appears to have a round 'base' to it, I could be wrong but I thought early badges didn't have a base or 'feet'. Lastly, I'd be interested to know how much your plate weighs in grams as compared to later kings crown plates its about 8 or 9 grams lighter. I could be paranoid of course but every thing gets faked nowadays and the points raised have got me wondering, any observations will be appreciated, cheers,

Paul

Heres another couple of pics of the back of the wreath and one from a kings crown plate for comparison.

Paul,

It's an original, excellent HP which IMHO has not been re gilded.

Any variations are due to the varying dates they were made and by whom they were made.

Weighing and measuring badges will always produce a varying minute difference and is not a good way to determine authenticity.

Regards

Paul

When I get a chance I'll weigh my badge and see if I can get a better pic of the front piece. In the meantime I've attached a picture of another front piece that I have, at some time it has been converted into an officer's glengarry badge which used the front piece from the 1866-78 plate. It has seen better days but you can see that it is die stamped like yours. I still think yours is good but possibly re-gilded. I've a couple of the older HPs and they are all gilded on the front but the back isn't usually gilded, why waste gilding on a part of the badge that isn't going to be seen. If your has been re-gilded then it may have been done in a tank which would have coated both front and back.

Paddy

Cheers for that guys, the only other bugbear was the base of the loop, any thoughts on that?

Paul

Apologies for the delay but I've just got round to taking mine apart. I've added a few more pictures below and for info my complete badge comes in at 42 grammes.

Paddy

Thanks for that Paddy, I appreciate it,

Paul