Anodised KC Parachute Regiment Cap Badge (Advice Please

[2Para]

Hi
I am a new member to the forum and been collecting for only a couple of month's,
my interests are the Parachute Regiment Cap Badges, one in particular that has caught my eye is a KING'S CROWN ANODISED BADGE, I have no idea if it was ever issued, and told by the dealer (who is selling it ) that it is a very rare badge, and caught in the cross fire of badges being changed from WM to ANO he is asking £75.00 for it.
Thought I would see if anyone can give me some advice on this matter and maybe post a photo if you have one.
Thank you in advance for all your time in reading this thread.
Tony

[3battalion]

Hi Tony,

£75.00 seems very expensive for an anodised badge even to the PR and it won't be long before more experienced collectors chime in with further advice.

Good Collecting

Paul

[gb64]

Hello Tony, welcome to this great forum once the airborne collectors read this thread you will have the answer,i seem to recal something about the KC para badge but could be way of the mark as it not really my field,a QC anod badge would be around £10.00 /£15.00 & have a look through threads & albums etc as the Para badges have a lot of repros around & there are things to look out for on them.

Good luck

Gerard

[engr9266]

Originally Posted by 2Para

Hi
I am a new member to the forum and been collecting for only a couple of month's,
my interests are the Parachute Regiment Cap Badges, one in particular that has caught my eye is a KING'S CROWN ANODISED BADGE, I have no idea if it was ever issued, and told by the dealer (who is selling it ) that it is a very rare badge, and caught in the cross fire of badges being changed from WM to ANO he is asking £75.00 for it.
Thought I would see if anyone can give me some advice on this matter and maybe post a photo if you have one.
Thank you in advance for all your time in reading this thread.
Tony

Tony, IMO if the badge is OK the price seems fair as I have seen other Kings crown A/A up for sale at higher prices ie a RAOC kc a/a for £230.

[2747andy]

Tony, first of all welcome to the Forum.

The anodised KC Para badge is one that crops up here on the Forum from time to time. There are "Stories" that it was at one point issued in error to recruits at the PARA Depot, although it is more likely that this is a "Fantasy" item or one produced for sale at the museum? Despite having one in my own collection, as an example I would not pay more than £10-15 for one! £75 IMO is well over the top for a "Spurious" badge!

Andy

[Mike H]

Agree wholeheartedly with you andy. All I can add is that ive never seen one with a marked slider.£75 is too much btw

[2Para]

Thank you very much everyone for your advice and the warm welcome.
Mike, Andy, Gerard, Paul, engr9266.

I did think £75.00 was a bit much as I paid less than that for a KC Stamped STERLING.
I will have a read through some threads as I have about 15 Parachute Regiment Badges some maker marked, Metal and Anodised, some with lugs Anodised and some with sliders, QC Hallmarked and some collar badges.

Best wishes to you all
Tony

P.s. I was not in the Para's so hope my user name does not offend any member's who were, it's just that if I was ever able to be in the force's the Parachute Regiment would have been my chosen Regiment to serve with.
Thanks

[gb64]

Thanks Tony,

99 times out of 100 you will get the answer from somebody in the know,and with regards to 2Para think you should be ok!! but you might have made the Royal Marines lads cough & splutter i can hear them all now !!!lol

Gerard

[Jack8]

Originally Posted by 2Para

Thank you very much everyone for your advice and the warm welcome.
Mike, Andy, Gerard, Paul, engr9266.

I did think £75.00 was a bit much as I paid less than that for a KC Stamped STERLING.
I will have a read through some threads as I have about 15 Parachute Regiment Badges some maker marked, Metal and Anodised, some with lugs Anodised and some with sliders, QC Hallmarked and some collar badges.

Best wishes to you all
Tony

P.s. I was not in the Para's so hope my user name does not offend any member's who were, it's just that if I was ever able to be in the force's the Parachute Regiment would have been my chosen Regiment to serve with.
Thanks

Hi Tony,

I would like to see your KC stamped sterling badge sometime.

Jack

[William]

£75 is too much for an AA cap-badge? Welcome to militaria collecting in the 21st century, chaps! Agonised Ally cap badges regularly sell on ebay for hundreds of pounds and at almost every other Bosleys auction there will be at least one that sells for £500, or £600 or even £700 - plus charges, commissions and P&P. This has been the case for at least a decade.

Gone are the days when AA badges cd be dismissed as somehow inferior to their brass or WM cousins and they have at last begun to take their rightful place in the world of military collectables and on collectors' display boards. See Chris Marsh's marvellous book "Anodised Aluminium: The 'No-Bull' cap-badge of the British Army" and his website - http://www.aacapbadges.com/

Attached images are for information and entertainment. Apologies they are not of the best clarity. This Para Regt KC cap-badge is marked Firmin London on the slider. It's probably an unofficial commission, as no official authorisation has been unearthed so far - despite assiduous research by collectors and at least one author. Nevertheless, it's a nice badge and still sought after by some collectors. £75 seems very reasonable to me for such a rarity.

Best regards to all.

[2Para]

Thanks a lot again everyone

Gerard, Jack, and William,

Jack here is a photo of my KC Marked Sterling, hope its ok.

Thanks William for the photo it is a very nice cap badge I will try and see if I can bargain him down a bit its one that would go very nice with my other's.

best wishes
Tony

[Jack8]

Hi Tony,

Hallmarked silver, sterling silver and silver plating were usually reserved for the construction of officers badges, they tended to be die cast instead of die struck which is what yours is. When a badge is cast there are no details of the front seen on the reverse and it has a solid smooth appearance and feel, whereas die struck badges show all the detail on the reverse if it is a good strike. All Parachute Regiment officers badges that I own and have seen are of die cast construction.

The badge you have shown is also made from a die that is of questionable originality. I have seen boxes full of this pattern in (white metal not silver), all spanking new being sold as other ranks badges which were meant for issue in post war Palestine. I do not know if this is true or not but I have one example in my dubious badges box as I do not like it, and do not think that it is an original badge.

Badges marked silver or stg silver are also questionable in my opinion. All the good ones are either Hallmarked with a date letter code, stamped STERLING, or marked with a letter P or S for silver plated. Makers names are also a good thing to see on an original officers badge, such as JR Gaunt on the Hallmarked ones and also those marked with a P for plated are accepted as produced by Gaunt although the name is absent sometimes. Also Firmin and Ludlow London, are also good makers of these badges.

Have a look at the reverse of one of my officer badges, you can see the maker mark of Ludlow London and the word STERLING although a bit feint is stamped on the left hand side.

These are just my observations after collecting numerous other ranks and officers Parachute Regiment cap badges. Use the search function on this forum and study photos and read through old posts to gain more knowledge about your collecting field, send private messages to collectors who you think may be able to offer guidance. Try to do this before parting with your hard earned cash. I have a box of duds along with a lot of others here, but once you've seen, or better still handled good ones, the copies stand out.

Best Wishes,
Jack

[Luc]

Tony, yours is exacty like the ones from ebay seller grey**ar, that alone should ring the alarm bells.

[2Para]

Thanks Jack and Luc

Your advice is very well appreciated I have a Hallmarked QC which is DIE STRUCK (Jack thanks for telling me the difference between DIE CAST and DIE STRUCK learned something new right away)

I have a Silver plate KC also DIE STRUCK but I know this one is not good as reading some threads it has a DIE FLAW (Like a flick in the metal on the left side of the top of the wing)

Also a KC and QC both Maker Marked J.R.GAUNT LONDON on the slider. (metal)

and a DIE STRUCK KC with lugs, going on your advice gentlemen it may seem I have a lot to learn.

The rest of my Parachute badges are SILVER ANODISED, BLACK ANODISED, and I have a BLACK and BRASS ONE rest are collar badges didn't pay much for most of them only the 2 Silver one's KC QC.

I will try and photo them all and see how I go.

once again thank you very much for your help

best wishes
Tony

[Frank Kelley]

Oh no, not the bear again!

Originally Posted by Luc

Tony, yours is exacty like the ones from ebay seller grey**ar, that alone should ring the alarm bells.