Hi
Just a quick comment, but I think you have the part of the die that was pressed into another piece to create the die used to strike the badge. Whew!
The give away is that the background to the raised lettering shows signs of chiseling and scraping that would be the result of making the piece. A good deal of thought was required and care taken not to "undercut" the angles of the lettering, etc. as this would create a good deal of difficulty in removing the master.
These hobs (or "hubs" as I've been told they are sometimes called) were carefully prepared and used with care as, should the die break, the hub was used to create another die.
The hollow-backed effect that you see on most badges was the result of a "counter" (also referred to as a "force") created by placing a piece of red hot steel onto the die itself and bringing the hammer head down onto the work.
The red hot counter had to be removed promptly otherwise it could soften the die.
Found the above in a very old (1930s) technical manual for students!
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