No. 1 Commando cap badge

[Bil4338]

ok, military detectives, here's one for you all...got this in today and went to replace my repro badge with this one.upon examination, I'm thinking there's been a bit of tinkering going on, what do you all think?

have I got an original badge, or a repro which has been very nicely aged and weathered, or is the reproduction just scarily accurate?

i peeled the backing cloth off the repro to see what lay beneath....we have very similar linen.on the 'original' it's similar with loose threads as if a backing's been removed, or it could've been made like that as so many period badges were.one difference is the remnant of backing material on the repro where it's been sewn-in as it were.

so, do I have an original example, or a cleverly aged replica? The embroidery is very similar but not 100% exact, just scarily close.see what you think.....

 

[Bil4338]

where'd the pics go?? 

[Davejb]

Hi bil, I,m afraid I,m thinking repro, have you done a burn test on the threads??

[Bil4338]

Not yet, but I will....and if it is a copy, I'll be naming and shaming and blocking that seller....

[Davejb]

From what I understand , Nylon tended to replace silk during the war  for parachutes, and some flight clothing especially American as there was problems obtaining silk from Asia, but for items like badges it was easier to use cotton as it was so readily available , especially British badges, Nylon was more expensive to produce so it stands to reason why our badges were cotton, seeing we were cash strapped at that time, more modern badges can be made from synthetics and of course this also applies to repros. From what I,ve seen over the years ,all our wartime cloth badges were cotton

 

[Guest Fred Karno's Army]

Was it advertised as original Bill ?

[Bil4338]

Just as WW2 No.1 Commando arm badge,,,,with wear. no claims to originality but the rest of his stuff looks legit so it could be that the seller was fooled too.

I should've compared it to my repro one but didn't have the time.just goes to show your still at risk of a bad buy no matter how long you've collected.....

[Davejb]

Have you made any progress re testing the material, or do you now know its dodgy??

[Norrie]

@Bil4338..Excuse my ignorance ...BUT, is there  money to be made by the "forgers"  to repro badges?? 

 

I'd never have thought they would go to such lengths to do such good copies....BUT...It's a big learning curve for me...and ...hopefully posts like this will stop me getting stung some day....

Edited October 1, 2016 by Norrie

[Davejb]

Theres a massive profit in fakes , but the key is learning what is real and what is not. it has been said that there is more profit made in fakes than the real thing, I think there was a survey done a couple of years back, and if memory serves it was estimated that between 2 and 4 million quid was made in a two year period in militaria fakes

[Bil4338]

Everything's faked these days, and cloth especially, British, German and even US...and especially anything to do with special/elite forces, which makes the most coin.

[Bil4338]

Latest haul...

[Davejb]

I can say that these all look the correct wartime badges, in fact they are in excellent condition, right cloth, right stitching, correct detail, very nice lot

[Bil4338]

Cheers @Davejb! Quite pleased with the latest intake.

[sabadgeman]

Were you able to find out if the commando badge at the start of this thread was an aged fake? Just asking for interests sake

[Desert Rat]

Hello Bil,

Thanks for showing us these superb badges, and to those like Dave who gave an excellent knowledgeable reply

Thanks & Best wishes to you all.....Desert Rat

[Bil4338]

On 10/11/2018 at 19:37, sabadgeman said:

Were you able to find out if the commando badge at the start of this thread was an aged fake? Just asking for interests sake

As far as I can tell, it’s original, but haven’t sought any expert opinion 

[Desert Rat]

Hello Bil,

Let's hope that the badges are original...they look so expertly made, they look? 100% original, but as Dave said, which astounded me that millions of GBP are made and sold in military fakes, this gives us all the more reason hopefully to be very careful, but unless we actually see and examine them against an original and have the valuable knowledge to distuinguish the difference we are wasting our money!

Anyway...Good Luck, hope they are original.

Have a great festive season....Best Wishes....Desert Rat

Edited December 26, 2018 by Desert Rat
correction to text