Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry Cap Badge - genuine or not?

['Ticker' Riley]

I wonder if anyone can help with authenticating, or otherwise, this Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry badge for me. According to the Makers Marks’ page on the Forum, it seems to bear the infamous 15mm J.R.GAUNT.LONDON stamp that is apparently associated with 1970s restrikes:

As I am not a badge collector as such I am rather at the mercy of my own ignorance I’m afraid, and so desperately need the expert opinion of Forum members before I decide to keep or return the badge to the seller. I have already informed him that this may well be a restrike, but am unable to say for certain myself so would really appreciate any advice members could give. There does seem to be some wear on the badge that makes it look more genuine, at least to my untrained eye, and the seller believes it to be an original as he understood the writing on fake Gaunt badges to be larger than in this example:

Any help or comments would be gratefully received – thank you.

Regards

Martin

[wardog]

You are spot on Martin. Gaunt never used this mark. Search posts, +Gaunt +full +stop . You will find it on this shape of slider. Also the impression to the reverse could be more clear-the two 'L's. Look for sharp stampings, perhaps narrow sliders, nice to get a crimp line near the slider bend. You should be able to get one for a fiver or near. You will not be able to be sure on WWI period. Cheers, Paul.

[Alan O]

Not just on 1970s fakes - still in use today I am afraid.
Alan

[wardog]

Have a look a JP's WWI badge, very clear die strike, more so then the others shown. http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...light=cornwall

[John Mulcahy]

If it is a genuine badge you want , (I understand that the word "genuine" means not fake or counterfeit ) then the badge you have would not have been made (and thus not worn) by the regiment when it was in existance.

Thus send it back.

John

['Ticker' Riley]

Many thanks for all the comments. I have now agreed with the seller to return the badge for a full refund. Nevertheless I thought members might be interested to know that the above badge is actually sliver plated, rather than white metal as the seller thought. I must admit I was a little suspect because of the brassy colour of the back of the badge before it arrived, and once it came it was clear that the front of the badge was also more silver in colour than a standard white metal one.

Interestingly I note that in Military Insignia of Cornwall, by D. Endean Ivall and Charles Thomas, we do have the following entries in reference to variations of the regimental cap badge:

6. Silver, hallmarked from 1902 onwards, usually Jennens or Gaunt, for officers’ dark green forage and field-service caps.
7. Silver-plate (marked ‘P’), as for no. 6.

Whilst this badge is defiantly silver plated, which has been confirmed by visits to two local jewellers and which would also I believe account for the brassy base metal, it does not carry any obvious ‘P’ mark. If it is a 1970s restrike, as apparently evidenced by the use of the 15mm J.R.GAUNT.LONDON mark, presumably it was attempting to be the silver-plated type mentioned in Military Insignia of Cornwall. Unfortunately Ivall and Thomas do not actually give a date range for the use of the silver-plated, or indeed silver, version of the badge. Anyway, thanks again to everyone for their contributions.

Regards

Martin