Didn’t get around to posting this prior to the possible conclusion in Alex’s post.
I was going to say that early die stamped hallmarked silver badges are not unknown, many officers Cross Belt Plates exhibit this construction. What is unusual and I cannot account for is the tagged construction and why both pieces are not marked.
That said the hallmark looks genuine, it has not been spliced onto the badge. If the badge fakers were reproducing hallmarks like that there were would be a lot of worried collectors looking askance at their Lonsdales Pals etc.
Also regards the badge itself there was nothing wrong with the die it was from in my opinion. Add to that the age and finish etc. did not ring alarm bells. Albeit the gilt finish is unusual so perhaps a later addition?
Personally I prefer the die stamped badge being discussed to the slidered die cast one. I would say the former is higher quality but that is my own opinion and subjective. Obviously all three are very well made and finished, just differently.
So if it is a Boer War slouch hat badge that wouldn’t surprise me and the price realised not quite so astronomical for what it is. Three very lovely and rare badges shown in this thread.
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