Badges of the Royal Naval Division have always been a hot topic and the fake Gaunt plaque flood circa early 2000s caused yet more controversy and further uncertainty.
The volume of fakery and fears of forgeries in the RND series of badges has created much caution and perhaps unsurprisingly an almost instant dismissal of any badge other than the bona fide Gaunt made examples sporting genuine plaques like those in Paddy’s wonderful album...
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...hp?albumid=251
The only commonly accepted exception to this ‘rule’ being the close crown Drake Battalion badge that has been well received by many members here and accepted as a period piece by a different manufacturer.
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...ighlight=Drake
This got me thinking if there was an alternate maker for the Drake Bn then why not likewise for some, if not all, the other battalions?
To my great surprise looking through my 1st edition (1971) copy of Gaylor I noticed that every RND shown aside from the Drake Bn was NOT from the Gaunt die.
Firstly none of the badges shown were from known fake dies and all were quite unique in their features, a couple of which I’ve listed below:
Howe - oval ‘0’. Distinctive voids.
Anson - very short left strawberry on coronet.
Nelson - straight N. Diagonal sail creases.
Hawke - arrow-headed bird & stamped lugs.
Hood - lop sided scroll ends. Distinct beak.
I’ve managed to obtain an example of each of these badge and to my eyes they all strike me as genuine period pieces. The strike, loops, braze and metal all look right for WW1. They are also certainly not available in droves like the eBay repros.
I can go into more detail for my rationale for each badge if required but for brevity I’ll stop there and let the pictures do the talking.
In conclusion my belief is all of these badges are genuine non-Gaunt manufacturer variations.
Just to end here, I owe Sonofacqms and apology for deeming his repaired Hawke with the stamped loops a repro. I now believe I was mistaken.