New Highs for RNDs?

[Luke H]

As recently as 2017 the standard ‘dealer price’ for a Royal Naval Division cap badge with Gaunt plaque was £75.

Fast forward a couple years and this has jumped to an eye watering £120 and bizarrely they still sell at this price.

Today, I see Bosley’s BuyWyze site pitching a Hawke for £160!!! Surely a new record high.

One wonders where it will end for RNDs?

Their inflation is especially usual as most badges, even scarcer contemporary war raised units, have not noticeably gone up in price at all since 2017.

[Fatherofthree]

Luke.

That's Bosley's for you!!!!!

Regards.

Brian.

[Markus Bodeux]

I guess .... they try it !
The same with other badges and decorations. For example:
The german WW2-tank-destruction badge was about 1000,- Euro a year ago. Always sold within some hours for this price, dealers raised the price with every new offer.
Now we are in a range between 2200-2500 Euro !
I think they won´t sell it for 160 GBP, unfortunately we will not see how much discount Bosley´s will give to a buyer at least .....

Regards
Markus

[Volunteer Soldier]

Well done Luke. But perhaps not too surprising since Bosley's have a Coutts banking account to support.

[49lassiepen]

Luke slight off thread not R N D ''-wonder where it will end ''
Not sure how scarce these are but for sale on a dealer site at present 2 V T C 1 @ £1000 .00 and other at £1200 .00
David

[Luke H]

It’s a good point David.

I think VTCs and OTC/Cadets have experienced a similar sizeable inflation.

Sadly other areas like Victorian/Edwardian infantry and HPC appear to have fallen in price during the same period.

[nbroadarrowz]

Things are going up, I paid 125 pounds for a WW2 KC officer's cap badge.
Barry

[CB101]

And the rising prices is the very reason I was forced to stop collecting.

If it keeps going like this the dealers will have a lot of very costly badges in stock with very few people able to pay the asking prices - result, one hobby ruined and dead.

I’ll love to know how many younger people are coming in to the hobby because you don’t see too many at the fairs and no hobby can survive without new blood coming in.

An example of dealer greed ruining it for everyone, including eventually themselves

[Sonofacqms]

At one time some dealers at militaria fairs used to have a box with common items and badges missing their lugs or sliders, over polished etc for a pound. This has now gone up to £3 and sometimes £5.00, while we have inflation as we all know and the price of renting a hall to put these fairs on has gone up can you wonder why young collectors are few and far between.

Rob

[Luke H]

It may be different for officers and commonwealth badges but vast majority of British other ranks cap badges I think have not risen in price since the early 2000s, many quite the opposite.

Standard WW1/2 infantry badges struggle to sell for £5 or £6. More common WW1/2 Yeo also seem to have lost their previously set value and can be had for peanuts on eBay quite regularly.

Going back to the 1990s more common QVC infantry were a basic £45 each and sold readily by dealers. Had they had increased same % as RNDs price would be £72. Rather they now struggle to sell for £25.

Pals badges have not gone up in price since the early 2000s. The going rate for a 18th Middx PWPB and Wandsworth Bn was c.£350 and still is… if these had seen the same % increase as RNDs they would now be £560 each today.

[Sonofacqms]

Luke, it only takes two or three ardent collectors who must have certain items and the price rises very steeply, I can remember when WWII Italian Fascist arm shields were going for silly money, but when I tried to sell the one I had the bottom had dropped out of the market.

The collectors of these had by this time bought or acquired the ones they wanted and no other collectors were interested, the same will happen with RND items I'm sure, although looking back at William Tobin's lists from the sixties they were still making more money than Yeomanry, Cavalry and Infantry.

Rob