Buyer Beware: Learning about the Repros

As the Coburg Badge becomes more recognised within the collector community, inevitably more reproductions will surface in the collectors' market. Some reproductions are low quality ones such as the above which through properly learning, can help genuine collectors distinguish the good from the bad. Certainly this blog will not reveal all the features, as otherwise the bad guys will learn and improve. However, at a quick glance, we can easily see that some details are just wrong. One thing to remember is that a badge can have crisp detail but yet having sharp details does not necessarily mean it is a good badge. Likewise, poor detail through corrosion or poor storage can cause features to deteriorate. For the above badge, it was sold as a reproduction, so no harm was done. Can you identify the poor features shown in the above badge? One clue is the blob of metal above the T in the "MIT" - it shouldn't be there... Part of the fun (and knowledge) is to study the badge, as much as its history behind it.