Derbyshire Imperial Yeomanry collars

[EwanWhite]

G’day there folks,

Acquired these lovely little Derbyshire Imperial Yeomanry collars recently. They’re marked JR Gaunt London, and were listed as silver and gilt. I’m curious, has anyone seen gilt discolour like this before? I did have a very brief thought that it might be bronzed and silver, but I’m tending towards the gilt having been polished away.

Any thoughts on this?

All the best,
Alexander

[cbuehler]

A very nice pair. Strangely, I have seen the cap badge with the gilt parts in this patina as well. I can only surmise that the gilding was rather thin or had a very small percentage of gold on these. Contrary to what some may hold, officer gilt and silver badges did require polishing. While the gilt parts may not tarnish to any great extent, the silver does.

CB

[EwanWhite]

That is most interesting, many thanks. I shall give them a quick bath in the ultrasonic and see if there’s any gilt remaining under the grime.

All the best,
Alexander