Hi James
Just saw your previous post on this smaller badge. I can help you out here. The small badge came in in 1927 as I have a letter to a ex-26/ man thanking him for his payment of 2 shillings and sevenpence and enclosing his "new" small badge.
M & K were not the first makers of this new badge. That honour goes to "H.T.P". I think that this (without checking) is a Harold Theodore Peat(e). His small badges are a fraction smaller than the M & K ones and "H.T.P." is on the back of the crown. They also have a curious little "spring pin" that I've not seen on many other badges. He did continue with the RD 861 marking too.
I think that the change in badge size was partly materials cost (but I don't think that the "subs" went down in price.....) and also fashion. I've noticed that a lot of association badges for organisations such as the RSL, South African War Vets, etc. changed their badge sizes.
Also the RSA was experiencing difficulty working out who was "financial" or not. The issue of a new smaller badge partially solved this problem.
A last point (that I found in an "N.Z. Truth" article of the period!) was that many RSA members didn't like displaying their service number on the front of the badge. If you were an ex-digger you could easily spot a Gallipoli man from a 1917 conscript....
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