Might as well as my 2p worth. I started collecting officer badges about 10 years ago so have taken a big interest in the markings. There are a lot of threads on the forum regarding hallmarks and sterling silver if you search back in past posts, but here is my take.
Hallmarked silver is sterling, which as mentioned, must contain 0.925% silver. I have seen badges marked Sterling silver, sterling, and also Stg Sil, and in my opinion are all generally good. Some badges are marked silver and are good, such as the Coldstreams badge at the start of this thread, but just having 'silver' is unusual. I am always cautious when I see that because dealers and unscrupulous people such as the previously mentioned badgeman, can make anything, have a minimal silver content, and stamp it as silver, though it may only contain 50%. Rather go for badges marked sterling if you want a genuine badge.
Having said that, I recently bought a Firmin made Coldstreams badge, still in the packet, which was labelled 'Sterling Silver', but the badge only has 'Firmin' embossed on it.
There are loads of anomilies, so really you have to take each badge on its own merit.
Cheers,
Alex
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