OT- Pick up another badge this weekend. photo

[rangerider7]

I have been real lucky this month. First I got the circle star Deputy Sheriff from Bexar County; now I got this Deputy Sheriff badge from Travis County from the same badge collector. This one is a smaller circle star. Austin, Texas is the county seat. I thought ya'll might like to see it. I love to put them with a lever and Colt SAA on display.

[gamekeeper]

Rangerider, are there many counterfeit badges on the market and if so, how do you tell from the originals?
I'd love to own an original but all I see over here are modern copies.

[kimwcook]

Nice catch. How many do you have now, RR7?

[rangerider7]

game keeper, Badges are the hardest to tell fakes from the real ones. Such things as the catches, pins, hallmarks, enamel in lettering, names and authority come into the equation. It takes years to be able to tell the difference. Some are easy, like one marked with the city's name but is a county official etc. If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. Badges from Tombstone, Dodge City, Deadwood, Lincoln County are priced in the thousands of dollars not 4.99. I only trade with collectors I have known for almost fifty years. I wish I could tell you a good modern book but I don't know one off hand. It is just best to stay away from badges unless you know the family history or the history of the collector. The lowest you can pay for an authentic old west badge is around 250.00 and that would be a plain stock badge with just police, deputy sheriff, or special police stamped on it. I have seen a badge I once owned going for 50,000.00 recently and some go higher. I sold it to help buy a better house for my family and don't regret it. Some collectors have hundreds of badges or more. I have just used their expertise over the years.

kimwcook, I think about 20, I have had probably around 200 pass through my hands in 40 years.

[Borregos]

Nice one rr7
Interesting reply to gamekeeper's question.

[gamekeeper]

Thanks RR, I guess if I find one over here it would more than likely be a fake! but I'll keep lookin'.

[DPris]

The antique badge market has been flooded with modern reproductions for several years.
Dave Langenbacker made a nice living from reproducing them for quite a while and turned out some very good quality repros. I've seen some laid out for sale by others as the real thing, and because of his volume probably the greatest number of non-originals floating around are his.

I say "non-originals" because he never made them to defraud, and he marked them on the back with his name. His purpose was to provide affordable replicas for those who couldn't pay high-dollar prices for originals.
He had a nice little foundry set up in his basement & did other types of pins & badges on order for organizations and individuals, too.

Best way to spot one of his is to have one of his old catalogs & know which ones he reproduced, if somebody later removed his name on the back & is trying to sell as authentic.
On some badges replicated from originals towards the end of his operation, he'd change some little detail to differentiate it. He added one badge to his lineup from a 1950s town police badge belonging to a friend, and left the center shield exposed brass instead of completely plated as the original was.

Lots of collectors still darn his name. He died about five years ago.

Collecting badges is a mine field, you really have to know what you're doing with the older ones, or know somebody who does.

Denis

[Huntermb]

I wish we had neat stuff like that up here, no badges up here unless it's a mountie one...and the draw of the red serge just isn't all that strong with me.

[KCSO]

I have a bunch of badges from Nebraska. My Dad was an investigator for Omaha/Douglas County and went all over the State on loan out. Seem like he usually came home with a badge. Adding to the fake info, some of the small agencies bought some of the cheapest badges you ever did see and some MADE their own. I have a badge from one of our local towns that was hammered out and stamped by the local blacksmith, he also made the counties leg irons!

[Ysabel Kid]

Great find RR7!

[gamekeeper]

Sorry I couldn't resist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsdZKCh6RsU - 122k - Cached