Stll trying to solve this puzzle.
Decided to compare examples of 'Admiralty' and 'HMNZ Transports' badges using ones found on-line and noticed similarities. The photos show that both badges have '
10 balls' on each arch of the crowns . (see photos).
What confuses me is that my 'Admiralty' badge , dumdum's enamel version and all the basic 1914 ones I've seen have '
9 balls' , so why would they change the crown on these two badges ?
The HMNZ Transports badges were manufactured in New Zealand by C.M. Bay , would he have simply copied the crown design of the Admiralty badge or (a complete wild shot !) could some of the 'Admiralty' badges have also been made by him ?(unofficially , so unmarked).
Q 1: Were there Admiralty staff based in New Zealand to deal/liase with the merchant ships ?
Q 2: If my badge is a 'fake' why does it have the standard crown (used by numerous British manufacturers) and not the '10 ball' version used by Bay's ?
PS. Thanks to James for being my 'sounding board' .
