RND Nelson

[conservator]

Interesting comments; I'm intrigued to know why it is considered fake.
I regularly read in posts about the need for provenance, this badge has been in my family since 1931. I got it after starting to collect medals and asking my father why he had no medal, he said he couldn't be bothered applying for them, which seemed to be a common thing then; other relatives received them and never took them out of the box. My father applied and received his box containing five medals, they were given straight to me. On a visit to his sister, he asked about his step-father's medals, that he'd seen as a boy, she went for a rummage and could only find the star and a badge, that was in the early 1970s, possibly 1973 after he'd received his own medals. As my father went to sea from 1930. he must have seen them before his mother married the recipient in 1931, when the recipient was still a neighbour and my father still considered a boy.
My dad must have seen them subsequently to know that his sister had them. His sister inherited them from her step-father; the star and badge were then given to me during the visit.
I scrounged all sorts of stuff from family members when I started collecting and it was all given freely by the recipients or their relatives, but all stuff that
had been in the family since issue.
So, what makes this particular badge fake; given the fact that it belonged to a seaman in Nelson Bn, has been in the family since 1931 and with me since the early 1970s? Does this sort of provenance not count?
Regards,
George

[Luke H]

The badge is from a fake die as sold in the Martin Marsh catalogue. In the 1970s a whole series of fake RNDs was spawned, these were new dies and different from originals.

You badge is quite different from the original made by Gaunt plus, in my opinion, one other maker.

I suspect given the date, 1973 or thereabouts the badge was a replacement.

[Luke H]

Here is a genuine Gaunt badge. Note the differences.

[Frank Kelley]

Ebay is absolutely awash with these badges, you could, if you wished to, simply buy a dozen examples with ease.

Originally Posted by cbuehler

Same badge as the one I posted, which now resides in my garbage can. It appears that these badges were not even restrikes, but complete fakes from inception. They all appear to have some age to them however.

CB