A piece of Militaria surfaced on ebay a little while ago – but nobody seems to know exactly what it is…..Can you help?
Ebayer Cynthia Kelly; who hails from Seattle in Washington State U.S.A – found this badge at a thrift shop in Bellevue, Washington. She listed the item on ebay; item #230266164867 and at auction’s end – David Daly was the successful bidder. The only problem being – he was not quite sure exactly what it was – that he had purchased. Subsequently, he contacted the medalsgonemissing administrator in a bid to ascertain it’s origin, but we had never seen anything else like it.
At a first glance, it appears to be some type of a “broach” or “sweetheart badge”. It measures about 1 3/4″ long and has a pin type arrangement on the back. It also has a ‘loop’ to the rear, near the top of the badge. It is reasonable to assume that this is to facilitate a chain or ribbon for hanging?
Essentially, the design features a crown (Queen’s Crown) above a wreath with the ‘St Johns Cross’ (also known as a Maltese Cross – amongst other names) evident underneath a shield. The shield is red in colour and it appears to be enameled.
The shield is of an English “knight” design and there appears to be a ‘knight’s head/helmet’ above the shield itself. There is also a splay of eight pearls in a circular fashion around the badge, and in the case of this particular piece – two pearls are missing from the right hand side.
Medalsgonemissing contacted an Australian Medal expert – Andrew Monkhouse who is a wealth of knowledge on Military Medals of the world. He in turn, contacted an associate – however neither of them could identify the item. The one thing we did agree upon, is that the piece of Militaria was ‘British’ in appearance and was possibly a sweetheart badge because of the pearls. What was certain, is that the item is not a Campaign medal of any description.
Whatever it is, this piece of militaria has certainly invoked a degree of interest amongst the numerous “collectors” that I have shown. When I questioned Cynthia (the seller) about her original purchase of the broach – she told medalsgonemissing, “It caught my eye and I listed it in hopes of seeing if anyone would know anything more about it.”
Well Cynthia and David, you have certainly created a point for discussion. If anybody out there recognises this piece of militaria – or can offer any insight as to exactly what it is……please share your knowledge with us and solve this mystery. Medalsgonemissing will offer a free “5 year listing” for any person who can shed some light to this question.
NOTE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS: As of 6th June, 2009 – This item has now been identified as a Military CHAPLAIN’s Cap Badge with an unofficial modification of costume jewellrey. Thankyou to Howard SIMCOE and all of the other people who responded, for your information.
