BRITISH BELT PLATE, REAL OR REPRO ?

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gentlemen

I had this in the Guest Identification section for a month, but maybe here I will get some info on the item in question?

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7474

Any comments are welcome, many thanks,

Kevin in Deva

[Tony]

Kev,

Have you tried sending a pm to Michael Johnson or Peter Monahan? I think they'd be your best bet even though I believe their main interest predates the Queen Victoria crown by about 25 years. It is a Queen Vic. Crown isn?t it?

Tony (clueless)

[harribobs]

It is a Queen Vic. Crown isn’t it?

Tony

oh yes QVC for sure

looks very nice but not having any experience of the Irish regiments, i would commit myself further

chris

[Kev in Deva]

oh yes QVC for sure

looks very nice but not having any experience of the Irish regiments, i would commit myself further

chris

Thanks Tony (Clueless) and Chris (Non-commitle) for your comments,

Kevin in Deva (in the Dark ) and No! I did not forget to pay the electric Bill

[peter monahan]

Kev

Don't know how I missed this post the first time thru; must have been asleep that day!

That is a very nice looking plate. Do you still have it?

I did some poking about and, sad to say, the news on the "real vs repro" query is not good. The Royal Irish are a very "collectable" unit for some reason and that means the market for good "repros" is large. And once I unwrap my "sold as repro" plate and re-box it, it's an antique, unless I'm a very honest man. Even when the repros. are marked as such some people can "fix this".

I knew a chap who made plates for regiments and so on - Cdn. agent for one of the big UK regalia firms - and he always put in a deliberate flaw. Of course, he never said what the flaw was - to fool the fakers - so the acid test meant getting his opinion on an item.

Here are 2 sites, an e-bay and a UK badge maker. Note that one of the 2 RI plates on e-bay says "may be a good copy" and the chap in England makes them. So...

A real plate wouldlikely be worth 150-200 pounds to an OR, more to an officer, I'm guessing but you'd need a real pro - not me, for sure, to give one the "OK". OTIH, if you got it for 2 quid or 5o pfennings,it's a lovely example of it's kind "Good copy of a Victorian OR's belt plate".

My tuppence worth and remember: free advice is worth what you pay for it!

Cheers, mate.

Peter

[peter monahan]

OOps! My bad! Forgot the e-bay address:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Royal-Irish-Brass-Belt...6QQcmdZViewItem

Google "belt plates Royal Irish" and you should get the UK maker's site. He does really nice work, for what it is.

P

[Kev in Deva]

OOps! My bad! Forgot the e-bay address:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Royal-Irish-Brass-Belt...6QQcmdZViewItem

Google "belt plates Royal Irish" and you should get the UK maker's site. He does really nice work, for what it is.

P

Hallo Peter,

please excuse my slow response to your post, 101 things to do around the house before winter creeps in

I looked with interest at your pictures and I think the studs on the rear of mine differ somewhat from that one you posted, also I dont know if it makes any difference but mine was obtained in Germany.

I still have the belt plate, and will take some better pictures in the daylight tomorrow while the missues is off at Nursing school and post them for your inspection.

Kevin in Deva

[peter monahan]

That would be great!

P