Hi Mike,
Brian is correct. The hallmarked silver coat of arms was worn by Station Masters on there caps and the title was worn by all other CGR staff. From photographs the title can be seen worn as a cap badge as well as a collar badge. In fact the station masters wore the title as a collar badge as well.
As for the brass (and or gilt) badge I do not have any info as to wore this badge. As far as I am aware the CGR badges should all be silver. Having said that all the hallmarked badges appear to be dated to 1897/1898, but the CGR was formed in 1875. Most pictures I have seen of uniformed staff are from the 1890's through 1912/3 when SAR badges were adopted. Maybe the brass/gilt ones are earlier ones or it may have been worn by more senior people such as Inspectors. Or maybe even the police force of the CGR.
I have recently seen for sale/auction on BidorBuy a CGR title brass cutout to same design as the silver badge. I have my suspitions that this may be a fake/copy. From a very reliable source I have learned that there was a badge collector who made copies of all the boer war sloach hat badges in his workshop at Salt River Railway workshop in the 1970's. He made a few sets which he distributed to some of the well known collectors of the day. These badges are now appearing on the market (seen quite a number on BoB) and have sold for extraordinary prices. When compared to my friends they are identical. He openly admits that they are fakes, but as they get passed on over the years, they can easily fool other collectors. This is the reason I do not buy boer war brass cut out badges/titles.
Regards
Steven
|