5th Btn Seaforth Highlanders - British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum

Sonofacqms · #1 30-07-18, 09:15 PM

I have had this badge for some time and before I put it up for sale I would appreciate members thoughts as to it's originality, the reason I am asking is that the badge is in an unissued condition.

Thanks in advance.

Rob

Alan O · #2 31-07-18, 06:38 AM

Well it appears to be from the correct die unlike the many more recent fakes with a badly formed animal.

Sonofacqms · #3 31-07-18, 10:20 AM

Many thanks Alan for your comment, this badge is one of two I have and as I am trying to prune my collection as I go through it I will post in the classifieds later.

Rob

PembrokeYeo · #4 31-07-18, 01:45 PM

It's good in my opinion! PY.

Luke H · #5 31-07-18, 03:11 PM

Rob,

It’s definitely not the fake die with the abominable cat. But as Alan may have been alluding to I suspect the 4/5th Seaforths have been restruck from the original die as relatively you do see a lot of these and some have poor reverse detail with very modern looking lugs/braze.

A late unissued original badge or early restrike before the die wore... who can tell 50 years on.

This badge is from the same die I believe: https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cap-Badge-4...ebbf%7Ciid%3A1 the seller has 4 available.

Luke

Sonofacqms · #6 31-07-18, 05:55 PM

Luke,

Thanks for your input, the reason I put this badge up was the fact it is in IMO unused condition, as Alan says, "Well it appears to be from the correct die unlike the many more recent fakes with a badly formed animal".

In the past (1950's) when I first collected badges many shops sold badges that were surplus to requirements and this badge could well have fallen into this category, other badges I bought in the 1950's were QC Parachute Regt, Army Educational Corps, "AIRBORNE" titles and many trade badges.

Even in the 1970's some Lowland Regt badges of WWII vintage appeared and I bought one with four loops, I wish I'd bought the lot, but funds were prohibitive . . !

The reverse of this badge has excellent detail (IMO) and if further pics are needed I will provide them, having looked at the badge on ebay which is said to be a restrike, I think mine is different to this one.

Rob

Luke H · #7 31-07-18, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonofacqms

The reverse of this badge has excellent detail (IMO) and if further pics are needed I will provide them, having looked at the badge on ebay which is said to be a restrike, I think mine is different to this one.

Have a look at the letters A, E and U. Distinctive as they’re asymmetrical - fatter right descender on the A, the thinner top arm of the E and significantly thicker left ascender on the U. Also note distinctive raised eyebrow, eyeball dot and the oval shape just below the forelimb. Admittedly the scan isn’t the clearest and the image of your badge is slightly from below but to my eyes both badges exhibit these points.

Sonofacqms · #8 01-08-18, 04:03 PM

Luke, many thanks for your observations as to my badge, I have added three more pictures which may help as they are close-ups although I must admit I am not the greatest photographer of badges.

One of the things I have noticed regarding the letters is there seems to be a difference under the letters on my badge than the one you showed, my badge has the letters virtually touching the scroll whereas the other seems to have more space. Other subtle differences seem to be a lack of oval shape below the forelimb.

It's always difficult with screen images to be 100% certain of anything, anyway, this is what makes badge collecting interesting.

Do you have any photos of a known guaranteed original badge?

Rob