1930's ? Commemorative Pilots Badge

[Daniel Murphy]

This belongs to a friend of mine and he has offered it to me for a very reasonable price. It could be a fake but I am leaning towards it being made in the 30's-40's. There is NO way it was made pre 1919. It is massive construction of brass that was heavily silver plated and then frosted. Some of this frosting remains. The pin looks OK for that period but the catch looks '57. I am asking for your learned opinions. If you believe it is pre '45, I will buy it and use it as a filler on a uniform.

Dan Murphy

Edited July 3, 2006 by Daniel Murphy

[Daniel Murphy]

Reverse. I am not crazy about the fact the eagles head is not cut out.

[Daniel Murphy]

An angled view. Not exactly the highest quality, I know.

[Daniel Murphy]

But there are signs of hand finishing on the edges.

[Steve K.]

Hello Dan

OK, I'll jump in here since this is an area that interests me and I'd like to learn more about these badges.

I'm far from understanding all the variations for Imperial Flight badges but if this were offered to me, I would not consider buying it. As you mentioned, the head of the bird not being cut out is the first red flag. It makes the badge look "strange". Seeing the obverse gave me more doubts. There appears to be pits throughout the back which could be a sign of casting (and not being forged), plus the entire outer edge of the badge (viewing the obverse) looks soft (another sign that it could be cast). I do not like the hinge, pin and catch assembly because they look too fragile for such a massive badge, thus I would expect the pin to have some bend(s) to it but it is straight as an arrow (and not consistent with the heavy wear to the obverse & reverse). However, they could be just replacement parts attached years later as a repair. The catch is rather unique and is usually seen on badges that are post '45. The hand finishing details you noted can be carried over in the casting process from the original, so you would have to look at them very closely to make sure they are true. While casting was a viable technique used throughout the industrialized ( and even non-industrialized) world for many moons, there are signs that point to a more modern technique.

Too many red flags for me, but this is just one man's opinion. I don't want to dissuade you from a happy purchase and I hope others will share their opinions.

Cheers,

Steve

[Daniel Murphy]

The only thing that makes me think this might be pre '45 is the frosting and the hand filing on the edges. The frosting is real, not painted on. This would have required a very heavy silver plating and then the use of acid to make the frosted finish. The plating had to be heavy so that the acid did not expose the brass. The badge was finished on the edges by true hand filing. It is a lot of trouble for someone to go to, to make a poor quality fake. All of this does not mean it was not made a couple years ago (how long my friend has had it). If the general concensus is that it is fake then so be it, I will pass on the badge.

Dan Murphy

[Stogieman]

There is absolutely nothing about this badge that would cause me to consider even for a moment that it was made prior to 1975... This looks like a very crude copy to me.