Naval Wound Badge

[Erik Krogh]

I have just purchased this Imperial Naval Wound Badge for a good price on eBay. It appears to be a match with accepted original badges on this forum. However, I think that someone has spray-painted the badge silver. I can see little patches of black underneath. I'm wondering whether I should try to remove the silver paint and return the badge to black, or leave it alone. I have used fingernail polish remover to restore other badges. Any opinions if I would also remove the underlying black finish?

Thank you for your comments!

[Erik Krogh]

Reverse of badge.

[Guest Rick Research]

I have an identical silver one which I fished out of a tea tin full of all 3 classes in the early 1970s.

That is NOT black paint under there-- it is the gunmetal type finish on the steel itself which presumably helped bond that ghastly ORIGINAL radiator paint finish.

They are simply ugly, that's all.

As far as the ghastly radiator paint finish goes... we had long suspected that the same on Hamburg Hanseatic Crosses meant cheapo inter-war duplicates-- until a dated, atrributed group with one in wear during the war turned up.

I know of no way to say whether one of these badges is 1918, 1928, or 1938, but from the sheer ugliness and typical naval just-stab-it-in needle pin, I'm more inclined to accept these "radiators" as a first batch BECAUSE they are so ugly. (Nobody would have bought one as a REPLACEMENT.... )

[Erik Krogh]

Thanks a million Rick, for keeping me from doing something stupid (like trying to remove perfectly good radiator paint). I don't collect much Imperial stuff, so I had no way of judging originality.

All The Best,

Erik

I have an identical silver one which I fished out of a tea tin full of all 3 classes in the early 1970s.

That is NOT black paint under there-- it is the gunmetal type finish on the steel itself which presumably helped bond that ghastly ORIGINAL radiator paint finish.

They are simply ugly, that's all.

As far as the ghastly radiator paint finish goes... we had long suspected that the same on Hamburg Hanseatic Crosses meant cheapo inter-war duplicates-- until a dated, atrributed group with one in wear during the war turned up.

I know of no way to say whether one of these badges is 1918, 1928, or 1938, but from the sheer ugliness and typical naval just-stab-it-in needle pin, I'm more inclined to accept these "radiators" as a first batch BECAUSE they are so ugly. (Nobody would have bought one as a REPLACEMENT.... )