Essex Yeomanry fantasy?

[denis pannett]

I can not find this rather uninspiring badge in any book so just wondering if it is a fantasy badge despite looking quite old? All comments welcome. Denis

[Alan O]

In my opinion these are old fakes. They are very flat and cheaply made.

[Luke H]

Personally I am of the opinion these are a fantasy badge discussed in posts #21-29 here. Michael and I continued a most enjoyable discussion on the subject off the forum.

This photo was thought to show the above badge in wear. It is clear in this pic there are significant shadow distortions owing to how thin the collar badges appear in places.

However, my belief is the photo is of the scrolled 1916 ‘flat topped crown’ version with lower scroll removed. The portrait below shows this cap badge in wear which also appears ‘solid’ plus gives the same approximate size to the collars.

There is some precedence to removal of the scroll on the 1916 version, I believe this is covered in Michael’s book.

Having briefly owned one of these ‘fantasy’ badges my recollection is it was small and much closer in size to the collar than the cap badge in both photos.

Just my tuppence worth.

[denis pannett]

Many thanks for your comments - as you say Alan, flat and badly made so will be returning. Denis