Badge Legends

[Peter Brydon]

Sonofa,
A great thread, another couple of memories come to mind, I used to spend some time in Southport in the late 1980`s when there were quite a few antique/ junk shops. I remember turning down a Liverpool Scottish ( 8th V.B.) colour sergeants tunic because it lacked collar badges ( must have been mad ) and then ( and I still cannot understand why ) another shop had a pile of Liverpool College OTC large brass buttons and I bought one at a very reasonable price , why did I not buy the lot- I still dont know .

Going back to poorly attended auctions, if you watch some of the daytime T.V. antique programmes even some of the ( presumably well publicised) auctions which are to be recorded for these programmes do not appear to be well attended,however in these day of the internet I think most,even provincial auctioneers, catalogues are on the net and there is a company ( whose name I cannot remember ) with whom you can register for a fee,( a not insignificant amount ), and they will E mail you when any catalogues with items that might be of interest to you come up.

I am sure this explains the commission and telephone bids when the room itself is half empty.

The auction of the contents of the pub mentioned in my earlier post was well before the IT revolution which probably explains why the lots were bargains.

Peter

[Phillip Herring]

In the summer of 1980, I was in Vancouver with a friend, and we went into an antique shop.
The lady said she had a jar of badges, but she hadn't priced them yet.
She let me root through them, and there was a canadian Chaplain Service cap badge and two pairs of collars, marked Scully, padded wartime RCAF pilot's wings, two RCAPC OSD capbadges and a pair of collars along with Chaplains and RCAPC buttons.
I think I paid CDN$10.00 for the Chaplain cap badge, but I didn't want to take the money out of my shoe to buy anything else.
Come December, I went in again and bought everything else for $20.00.
Half an hour later, I picked up a 1915 Trio and Memorial Plaque to a PO Telegraphist who had been killed when HMS Formidable was sunk on New Year's Day 1915 - $30.00.

It doesn't happen often.

Phil

[Peter Brydon]

Phil,
Not these days it dosnt.

Whenever I come across an antique shop I have not been in before I always tell the owner that I am interested in any military items but the reply usually comes back,"we have a customer who takes all the military things we get in "

Peter

[Sonofacqms]

Peter, your reply when asking at antique shops is the standard on I receive "We have a man who buys all the stuff" seems to be universal.

However, Phillip's story of the summer of 1980 reminds me of a great day out in the early eighties I had, we stopped in at Bury St Edmunds and had a wander round the town, I went into a little antique shop (long gone) and asked if there were any badges, to my surprise the lady said she had a few, but the best had gone, I looked and the first badge I saw was an Artist Rifles officers, silver gilt with high points polished, a few other odds which I bought and as I was going out the door, I looked up to the top shelf, RFC pilot's bronze wings on a picture frame! God knows what the best were, I still have daydreams!

[Dez]

When I read the above stories I couldn't resist recounting a personal experience from about 15 odd years ago. I was on holiday in Manchester and armed with an ad. 'military badges for sale' I set off for an address in Whaleybridge in Derbyshire. The place was easily found, probably had been stables and a stableyard at one time with large wooden double doors closing off the entrance. After gaining entrance, instead of the proverbial metal bath full of badges, I was confronted with uncountable metal baths filled with military badges of all kinds, not mixed, each bath containing one type only. We are talking cap badges, regimental, corps, home and overseas, helmet plates etc, their handout typewritten catalog listed 400 different types, if memory serves. These were sold as re-strikes with absolutely no attempt at deception, the cost, hold your breath, 1 pound each. At the time I was collecting cap badges to the Irish Regiments, so I bought about 10 of the Irish ones to use as black sheep to help in identifying genuine badges. I'm sure this is the source for most of to-day's problems.
Dez

[Sonofacqms]

Dez's little story of restrikes has kicked off another memory for me, in the mid seventies, my brother and I went to Cornwall to stay with a mate. We drove down there and got over the top on beer, my mate was working on a market stall in Truro which sold militaria, I asked him if it was his, and he said it belonged to a guy who ran an antique shop, I went to the shop and looked on the wall, fantastic! VB's, TF badges, absolute rarities all round.

I reached for my chequebook, about to write one out and the owner appeared, P----d as a Parrot, I enquired about his good fortune acquiring these badges and he said "a guy in Birmingham makes them for me"

The cheque book was hastily replaced . . !

[Peter Brydon]

Dez,

I think that you probably had the dubious pleasure of visiting Martin Marsh because that sounds like where he operated from before moving to Weymouth.

He has the possible distinction of having done more than anyone else to flood the market with non genuine badges.

Sonofa,

There is a similar "posh" antique shop in Chester were hundreds of dud badges are displayed,the problem being that there are probably some genuine items amongst the dross.

Peter

[Sonofacqms]

PB. I always look amongst restrikes as some dealers don't know a real badge from a restrike, restrikeitis also affects dealers!

[Keith Blakeman]

Originally Posted by 8thfoot

Dez,

Sonofa,

There is a similar "posh" antique shop in Chester were hundreds of dud badges are displayed,the problem being that there are probably some genuine items amongst the dross.

Peter

Greenwich Market in London, an antiques centre in Topsham, Devon, similar in Halstead, Essex and Rye and Arundel in Sussex, everywhere I go I seem come across a shop with boards of badges and everyone of them a copy although the seller only deals in 'genuine items'.

[Sonofacqms]

I have never visited the antique market in Topsham when travelling through Devon, however, I did buy some good badges off a guy who I think has a stall there. This was at a fair and I bought a lot of nice WWII plastics plus a few others at a fair price. I still look at all the sellers, their cap badges may be restrikes, but the shoulder titles and collars can be the real thing.

As for Rye, it was full of restrikes when I last went there, Hastings has some good stuff though.