Infantry Regiment badges - How to spot the fakes

A guide to help you spot the blatant fakes. However there remain a huge number of fakes made which are indistinguisable from the originals but hopefully this guide will help to identify the obvious copies: There are a number of 1970s Franklin Mint repro Infantry badges that were made as part of a collectors set. Some are obviously not originals as they are a new design (such as the RLincs which has a unfeasibly small sphinx or the Cameronians which is half the normal size. Some however are being sold as officers badges as they are silvered and often have enameling even though they have sliders. As far as other ranks badges goes if a seller has a lot of badges for sale see if he has any of the following fakes - if he does then avoid. The most obvious giveaways: Border regiment - The most common copies have 3 circular holes through the centre. The originals had 4-5 stamped out to shape the dragon motif. Also the originals has a retaining strip behind this to hold a red felt circle. The Kings Own Regiment - nearly all of the originals had fretted letters. While there were 1950s badge made with solid letter bar, there are either in anodised aluminium or very very occasionally in brass. The copies have a solid bar but with a line running horozotially across it where the original fretted one have the bar.The genuine solid bar ones lack this line and the bar is a perfect rectangle while the copies have a bar which have edges cut away. Somerset Light Infantry - The fakes have a solid top half of the 'A' in PA whereas the originals had the A fully voided. The flawed fakes also come in a brass version. Black Watch - The fakes are very flat badges whereas the originals are more curved and have a domes shape to them. Welsh/Welch - The most obvious copies have the same fat dumpy feathers seen on the Pembrokeshire yeomanry fakes. Dorset Regt - the post 1950 Dorest badge should have a scroll no longer than the Dorset title. The repro ones have a much longer scroll (the same length as the Dorsetshire scroll) and a flaw over the 'T' of Dorset. Loyal Regiment - I have only ever seen originals with the bent over hairpin type slider which is designed to strengthen the badge which is easily bent with out it. The copies generally have the normal type slider which is stuck end on although an old Loyal rget soldier has informed me that he had one of each type in the late 1950s. Suffolk Regt - a Q/.C was amde but never issued - if the badge you see appears to have been aged or darkened then ask - how can that be as it was never issued. I have never seen an original just badgly stamped fakes. I would exect a makers mark on a bagde from this period. It is now possible to buy a fake of nearly every version of all infantry regts; even badges only ever worn in a/a are now being faked in other metals. Unfortunately the copies on most of these badges are indistinguishable from the real thing so the best thing to look for is brazing holes (although Essex Regt badges have been restruck with these) and some genuine wear and age. Again if a seller has a limitless supply of these then he has a box of copies! It used to be thought that makers marks were a guarantee of a good badge but unfortunately some are widely faked including Marples and Beasley and JR Gaunt.London in medium sized font. Gaunt used a very small JRGaunt London in the 1940s and later a JRGaunt London in a larger font in the 1950s which is also seen on their earlier anodised badges both occasionally with brass and the more common a/a sliders. The common fakes always have the full stop after Gaunt and are seen alot on the fake WW1 Pals Bns.