The REASON why these "economy" issues came into being is simple. Although I don't have such a book in fropnt of me, any British economic history will tell you that by 1916 (the process started - surprisingly late? - in about the mid 19th century) the cost of labour had outstripped the cost of materials.
Now to the evidence, the following was signed on the 1st March 1916
"For necessary action. For the period of the war, all badges now made partly in G.M. & partly in white metal, will be made wholly of the former. Badges entirely of white metal will remain as heretofore."
The wording to contractors was
"The attention of the contractor is called to the fact that in many cases Badges made hitherto partly of GM & partly of GS are now required to be made of a single thickness of metal only. "
The end came in May 1919
"The decision to the effect that certain cap badges made of gilding metal and white metal, should, as a temporary measure, be made wholly of the former, is now abrogated, and pre-war patterns are to be reverted to. "
To my mind, there is no doubt that it was the construction process that was being addressed. As you will know, there were various other measures taken with badge production at the time - such as the "solid" badges without any expensive voiding / fretting (even though some was mechanical as noted).
As Fougasse noted there were stipulations on the alloy component. Actually the 1897 notes specify that brass is no longer to be used, and that GM is now the preferred metal So, yes "brass economy" is, strictly speaking, the wrong term.
I should also note that the official term for "blackened brass" is actually "GM Bronzed" - I believe this is probably because it was a similar process to the ?powder used to "bronze" OSDs.
Regarding the badges themselves, it's interestint to learn about Woodward etc. One other thing is that yes, any King's Regt "all GM" badges are actually "bald" 5th Bn badges. However, they should be in one piece, there are lots on evil bay in two pieces which to my mind are fake.
Yes, I have found out quite a bit about these badges, I'm working with a colleague and we hope to publish something. I'm personally not very good on cavalry, I've "done" the infy and am wading through the refs on TF infy.
J
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