Bosleys’ badges
Bosleys’ first auction of 2021 on 24 March was the delayed January Military Badge Auction. Containing 524 original badges including Dorsetshire, Berkshire, Manchester, Lancashire Regiments, Officer Training Corps cap and shoulder titles, badges for the Royal Marines, Scottish Regiments and a very fine collection of Welsh Regiments, regular and volunteers. It was a badge from the latter collection which won the prestigious front cover photograph spot. Lot 125, a Welsh 12th (Merthyr Tydfil) Glamorgan Rifle Volunteers shako plate c. 1860, this was the first example of the badge that Bosleys had handled in 26 years and believed to be the only example to be offered in that time. The hammer fell at £1,700.
Another badge with Welsh connections was a rare 39th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers ‘The Liverpool Welsh’ Officer’s pouch belt plate 1860-1861, which sold for £620. Amongst the selection of Victorian badges was a rare 21st Foot (Royal North British Fusiliers) Victorian glengarry badge c. 187477, this being one of the rarest of the glengarry badges, fell to a hammer price of £780.
The sale also showed that a badge does not have to be old to be valuable to collectors. A rare Gurkha Transport Regiment Officer’s pouch belt plate c. 196592, sold for £640.
Cloth badges remain increasingly popular and a Special Air Service WWII cloth parachute qualification/operations wing discovered in a collector’s discarded box had a hammer price of £380. It was airborne links which achieved the highest cloth badge price of the day with a ‘PARACHUTE / 3’ early WWII 3rd Parachute Battalion embroidered cloth shoulder title c. 1942 sold for £1,200.
However, it was the penultimate lot of the sale which offered up the biggest surprise of the day. A Royal Marine Light Infantry Victorian Ensign’s Colour sash fittings, the original gilt finish in superb condition. It sold for £2,400.
The next Bosleys’ Military Badge Auction is now nearly complete with over 500 lots, and the next Bosleys Military Collectables sale is planed for June. ■