There has been much discussion about the WW1 all brass economy issue badges which were a labour saving measure.
I also have a number of WW1 era badges that are of a much lower quality and production standard. With the rush for an increase in wartime production, a number of variants exist where the badge is made using obsolete dies, has unpierced areas where the s/p was to be pierced and thin plate metal. Examples of many of these are included in this album:
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...hp?albumid=396
I recently found this Rifle Brigade badge which shows the poorer quality typical of the wartime production. The crown is unpierced, the slider is poor and it is not well struck. I suspect this is a small manually operated press producing badges individually press rather than a bespoke machine press producing them to a higher standard in bulk.
The badge in question has also had the slider brased on by someone who is not an expert which has also left a large blob of braise on the front of the badge.