Strange Middlesex badge

[Sonofacqms]

I have had this badge for some long time, a Middlesex other ranks badge with a bronze finish, it has always struck me as strange, any ideas?

Thanks for looking

Rob

[cbuehler]

I am not convinced that it is bronzed, but an all GM economy. I have had several badges over the years that have had a patina exactly like this. Note the slider is not uniform in color and has a gradation in patination, as does the front , which shows brighter areas around the coronet and cipher. I have no explanation as to what causes such a patination to form.

CB

[Sonofacqms]

Thanks CB, I will investigate further.

Rob

[magpie]

It may have been left out in good soil or even a shed giving that bronzed appearance rather than getting eaten pitted by acidic soil, a lot of pictures can't show what the badges really look like in the hand.

[Waterloo1815]

I've got a Buffs badge with the same colouration. It appears to be a brass badge that has had a bronze 'wash' finish applied to it. Probably a cheaper way of providing an OSD badge than actually making one out of bronze.
Regards,
Leo

[Jelly Terror]

Originally Posted by Waterloo1815

I've got a Buffs badge with the same colouration. It appears to be a brass badge that has had a bronze 'wash' finish applied to it. Probably a cheaper way of providing an OSD badge than actually making one out of bronze.
Regards,
Leo

Leo,

This appears to be a theatre-made/cast OSD badge, as opposed to Rob's factory-made example.

Regards,

JT

[magpie]

I think the buffs is just a cheaper/budget made badge rather than a quality one from firmin/Guant etc as the front reasonably looks good

[Jelly Terror]

Originally Posted by magpie

I think the buffs is just a cheaper/budget made badge rather than a quality one from firmin/Guant etc as the front reasonably looks good

'Budget-made' but still factory-produced, do you mean, Andy?

[magpie]

Yes but may not have Been a factory as such perhaps a workshop, certain outfitters supplied cheap kit as far as I can see from adverts and others descriptions are of best quality.

[Jelly Terror]

Originally Posted by magpie

Yes but may not have Been a factory as such perhaps a workshop, certain outfitters supplied cheap kit as far as I can see from adverts and others descriptions are of best quality.

Looks as though this particular badge was intended as an OSD; were budget badges (sounds like a naff dealer's website) produced for that market, Andy?

[Waterloo1815]

JT/Andy, I have always been a bit wary of this badge as it is obviously not the same quality as my other 'pukka' bronze OSD Buffs badge, but it still has a nice weight to it if that means anything at all. The tangs are fairly flimsy, which is why one has obviously broken off. I was wondering if this was just a post WW2 badge made to a (cheap) budget as everything was rationed in Britain for years after the war, and maybe this also applied to certain regimental cap badges, possibly Territorials? Just a theory.
Regards,
Leo

[cbuehler]

I think the Buffs badge is just a genuine OSD. One must remember that officer badges were purchased from and made by many small firms that did not make OR badges under contract by the WD. I am of course referring to the WW2 period and prior as I do not not collect after that. I don't know how this is in modern times.
There is this old thread, although I still think the Middlesex is a GM.

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...ad.php?t=73655

CB

[Waterloo1815]

CB, thanks for the link. I'll still include it in my proposed Buffs display, as the weight of the badge alone gives me a certain degree of confidence that it's genuine, although I've never come across another one like it.
Regards,
Leo

[Toby Purcell]

I don’t think officers’ badges were produced with sliders if the manufacturer was following the specifications. They should have either, loops with a cotter pin, or blades. I seem to recall that has been quoted in some detail in past threads. Possibly by Peter Brydon, but I’m not positive. Were not the ‘simplified’, one metal badges produced during WW1 specified to be made from an alloy containing slightly more zinc so as to follow the instruction that when badges were not cleaned they would naturally darken and become more subdued?

[KLR]

Toby, I think that Peter Brydon (?) was referring to the 1939 Lpl Irish officers' cabeen badge. The first ones were in solid silver - with loops. The later products were almost universally with sliders (usually with a Gaunt stamp). I heard that officer's could choose fixings - including sliders!

See an array of these Lpl Irish badges (minus the HMS !) with only two or three with loops. The badge to the lacuna is a poor item but the one to the right of the lacuna is a unmarked silver, fretted and loops

I noted earlier that NCOs commissioned in the field that they immediately painted their badges with brown paint ! I'VE BEEN TOLD OFF FOR THIS......... (above)


I believe that Dress Regs were ignored when there was a war on....