Glider Pilot Regt cap badge???
 

Any thoughts on the authenticity of this one?

D.

Doug,

I'm sure you are aware that it is a 1940s Army Air Corps (worn by Glider Pilots/Crew) Badge.

As for the badge itself, the rear photo gets a little blurred when blown up!! The presence of metal polish residue on the back is a Fakers trait to give the impression of age and always worries me, especially when the front of the badge looks unpolished? I'd like to see a clearer picture of the slider, until then I'll err towards "Copy" (my opinion).

Best wishes!

Andy

Thank you for the reply!

Herewith, the best close-up I can do for now on the slider.

Doug

Doug,
thanks for the additional image, I'm still dubious! Your badge seems rather shiny and the residue may be there to mask it!

I've attached images of ORs and Officers Silver Plate (uncleaned sorry!!) badge for comparison! - (I now know these are FAKE!)

Regards!

Andy

While polish residue on an otherwise shiney reverse may be a potential problem, it is by no means an outright indicator of whether a badge is genuine or not. I can see no obvious problems with Doug's badge, but as with many badges that are made in solid WM or GM, it can sometimes be impossible to determine a good restrike from a genuine example with certainty, no matter how "expert" one may be.

CB

Doug, Andy, I'm afraid all examples shown are replicas. As far as I'm aware there are 5 different original patterns, this is the most common one in whitemetal:

Then there is a similar one in white metal, but with a solid crown and a huge cast fault mainly around the eagle's head. Then there is solid silver (hallmarked), cast bronze and last the economy version in plastic/bakalite.

Example with cast fault:

Example of the cast bronze badge:

Solid silver, hallmarked and fitted with 3 lugs, recently sold by member armyoutfitters on ebay:

Thanks for your comment, but I'm happy to have the badges I added in my previous post, in my collection "As Genuine" I've seen enough copies, replicas or repros, to be able to tell a duff one!

Andy

I'm glad you're happy with them, but of you think those are genuine you must be pleased to find vast numbers of them floating around on ebay alone. :D

Just because an item appears on Ebay it does not mean that it is a copy! Original Cast badges were produced to meet a need, to assume that only cast badges, particularly those with a fault are the only genuine examples is rather hasty!

I do not claim to be an expert, but I have experience and until I see a better example "In my Hands" then the ones I have will remain within my collection!

My take on the Forum is that it is a site to widen peoples knowledge, I would never presume myself to be that much of an expert on the subject to tell anyone, from a photo, that their badge was not genuine, perhaps if a Victorian Crown, Bi metal, AAC, 4th Volunteer Battalion badge appeared then I might be tempted to make an exception, until then I will offer advice and my opinion, for free and will take advice and opinions likewise!

Andy

I have this version with indisputable WW2 provenance.

Alan

What the QVC one?

Andy