orange river colony police - British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum

natal01 · #1 27-11-12, 06:47 AM

I have had a few white metal Orange River Colony Police badges coming through over the years, but last week someone came in with a brass version. According to Owen's book, these badges were worn from 1908 to 1913, so they weren't around for too long , and I guess that the ORCP was a fairly small force.
Does anyone know who wore a brass badge rather than the white metal version ?
Thanks
Mike

Milmed · #2 27-11-12, 09:35 AM

It could be a 1970's copy from original dies.

Steven

natal01 · #3 27-11-12, 02:00 PM

Hi Steven,
Tell me more ? This is the first that I have heard of 1970s copies .
Mike

Milmed · #4 28-11-12, 05:44 AM

Just a hunch Mike,
I have noticed various older white metal SA badges been pressed out in brass. Some of these are known to be 1970's copies from original dies, so I am taking aneducated guess that this is one of those. Unfortunately I do not have definitive proof. If you have contact with Sam Foote, he may be able to shed more light on this.

Regards
Steven

natal01 · #5 28-11-12, 09:53 AM

Here is a pic of the reverse of the badges.
Steven, I think that you are getting confused with the Boer War brass cut-out badges, which I believe were replicated. I think that die cast badges would present more of a challange and, in a very limited market , just wouldnt be all that financially viable.
Regards
Mike

Milmed · #6 28-11-12, 12:21 PM

Hi Mike,
I'm glad you have shown us the obverse of these badges. From this we can see that they are good ones from the pre 1910 period.

The 1970's badges are all die stamped with crude lugs and even sliders fitted where originals never had sliders.

The other option could be that this is a senior officers Gilt badge that has the gilt polished off sometime in its lifetime.

Regards
Steven

Brian Conyngham · #7 01-12-12, 08:14 AM

Hi All

Can anyone post a pic of an example of one of these 1970's versions.It would be great for future reference purposes.

Mike, for what my little input might be worth , those badges of yours look great, difficult to copy that type of badge and get the petina etc right and still expect to make money out of it, personally just not worth the effort for a small return..that is even if you do make one!

Brian