Hi Mike
No, I will guarantee that your Admiralty badge is quite OK.
Never thought to count the balls on the Crown (a great idea!). Bay would have been going off a standard 1914 badge I'm sure (either a drawing or a real example) and maybe just thought that the extra ball added nothing, if I've understood you correctly.
I'll do some work on an online archive I use and see when they first mention the HMNZT badge. This might help us to see if the standard, blue enameled badge appeared around the same time!
My two Admiralty silver-coloured badges both came from the UK. Must photograph them for you and the Forum!
You'll see that I've just sent you a photo of one of the HMNZT badges if you check your email!
