Can anybody please value sweetheart badges

[Brian0338]

I have two badges that have been identified in another thread on this site as Sweetheart Badges, and I would like to know if they have any value, does anybody collect them, and can somebody please help me with an idea of the value

Both badges are shown (courtesy of Mike the Admin man) on my post in Yet Another Australian in the Introduction thread

One is a badge for the London Scottish, the other is an Artillery badge mounted on a rifle that appears to me to be a .303 (SMLE) Lee Enfield with bayonet, so if I am correct, would predate the time in the early 50s when we were issued with the SLR, perhaps even WW2 or earlier

Help please

[wright241]

Originally Posted by Brian0338

and I would like to know if they have any value, does anybody collect them, and can somebody please help me with an idea of the value

Help please

Yes they do have value - whatever someone is prepared to pay for them.
Yes people do collect them
Suggest that that you check out the various web sites that sell them.
You could be very disappointed if a price was mentioned - depends on rarity.
I am not aware of any definitive book on values - bit like badges in a way.
Check out auction catalogs etc

[highlandas]

My daughter loves to go to the Badge shows with me. She is 8 yrs old and it started as a easy father/daughter day. Well she took a shine to badges and however one of the vendors showed her a sweetheart pin. Now it is one of the must of the day. The pins range in price from $5 CAD to $45 CAD To me they are priceless. My daughter's smile and the fact she is taking an interest in collecting military badges. Her willingness to learn about a unit's history and those that served all from a bobble of metal and glass. Of course now she wants the cap badge that goes with it, what have we started!

Thanks to the Guys out there, they know who they are.

Wright241 answered your inquiry better than me, I thought I would share quick story on Sweethearts for our sweethearts.

[tynesideirish]

As already stated, they are a collectable. Not rare, any Garrison Town and canteen had them, to give to your lover as a remembrance. Also the Woman / girl would be telling the world, she was unavailable and was waiting for her man. You can usually pick them up for about £5-10. Rarer the unit, price increases. If it's to SAS, YCV, Artists etc then it's just a gamble on if the collector already has it, regarding final price.

Your 2 are, as you'll know not rare units. Sitting on £15 on a good day.

[Faugh-A-Ballagh]

I have a few, although they are ones that I was given in a batch as opposed to ever buying them. They are quite an interesting subject, but with seemingly endless variations, as I don't suppose there was ever any official design.
I see that Bosley's have a sideline - Sally Bosley - who specialise in them.

John

[Brian0338]

I checked the site for Sally Bosley - she has one exactly like the Artillery badge that I have, with the badge fixed to a .303 rifle and described as a WW1 sweetheart badge, she wants $72 US for it, so I guess this is one that is worth more than 10 or 15 pounds or dollars, nothing seen on the London Scottish badge, so I have sent her a message to ask if she would venture a guess as to the price. both of the badges I have are hallmarked silver, both have a London hallmark, so they may perhaps be worth a little more than suggested, thanks for the help, I would not have known about Bosleys if I hadnt read it on this site.

[wardog]

Hello Brian. Items from the Bosleys are likely to be priced at the high end of the range. Sally's badge will only be worth that amount when someone buys it. Untill then it is just what she would like to get. Even if someone bought it, its not to say anyone else would buy another for the same amount. I would think a badge to the London Scottish more interesting mysef. Far fewer men than the whole of the RA. I could think that though due to my great uncle having served in 2nd London Scottish! Best Regards, Paul.

[Brian0338]

I contacted Sally Bosley by enail, before I found the Artillery badge on her site, and asked if she could tell me the value of the Artillery badge and the London Scottish badge.

I received a reply from her, said she is too busy to bother putting valuations on badges for people, she gets a few enquiries every day, and wont do it, she didnt even mention that she has one of the artillery badges on her for sale site, so maybe she didnt even know that,

this was the first time ever, no matter the subject, that I have ever contacted somebody who sells the stuff I am asking about, that I have been knocked back like that, so obviously the lady is just not helpful to old blokes like me.

I figure the London Scottish badge must have been among those my Dad gave me, and I kept it for some reason when I gave all the others away to a friend who collected badges, and as both his older brother and his Dad were in WW1 it is possible that is the connection, and my Mums older brother was Artillery, so maybe that badge came from my Granny, and I did keep some badges for a family connection, but time and my age has erased the reason for these and the above are just guesses.

[Peter Brydon]

I have only started collecting sweethearts seriously fairly recently.

I have found that there is a wide variation in the prices asked by different dealers for what are similar items. Sally is very much at the top end of market as far as asking prices are concerned.

I bought the silver/tortoishell Kings sweetheart ( Middle column,4th down ) for less that half the price that Sally has one for sale at and that was from another dealer who is not know for low prices.

I think your London Scottish badge is desirable but as has already been stated it is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

P.B.

[Alan O]

Unless they are precious metal then these badges go for a few pounds. Certian regts (cavalry or yeomanry) might go for more but generally £3-10 seems to be the going rate. Jewellers produced ones command much higher prices especially for the desirable regts.

[Peter Brydon]

unfortunatly ( for me ) Kings Liverpool badges seem to be to one of the desirable regiments.

I would have thought a London Scottish silver and tortoishell sweetheart would have been worth a minimum of £30

P.B.

[wardog]

Sorry you had a knock back Brian but if you think about it dealers want to buy stock as cheep as they can so are unlikely to give a free valuation, even if you are not saying you want to sell. I guess some have done quite well out of collectors over the years, and may feel they don't need to pay mind to public relations! You will find willing help on this forum, but sweethearts are a field of collecting where its hard to give prices as the types are so varied. Do some regular checks on prices made on similar sweethearts to those units on eBay. May take a year or so to get 2 or 3 prices, but as good a way to get an idea of value as any. Cheers, Paul.

[Peter Aitkens]

I have two reference booklets on the subject which show illustrations and approximate values - trouble is, I don't know when they were published.

[fougasse1940]

Originally Posted by Peter Aitkens

I have two reference booklets on the subject which show illustrations and approximate values - trouble is, I don't know when they were published.

The one on the left by Pamela M. Caunt is part one of a series of three first published 1994, second edition 1999, ISBN 0 9523709 0 5.
Part 2 was published 1998, ISBN 0 9523709 2 1. Part 3 2001, ISBN 0 9523709 3 x.
The one on the right by K.W. Jarmin preceded these three.

Rgds,
fougasse1940

[Peter Aitkens]

Many thanks for that - it would seem I have the 1999 Caunt edition.