Just sorting through the outer edges of my collection in the zone where things need "tidying up and nailing down" reside.

US insignia, as relevant as it is to my areas of interest does not feature in great number in my collection so I am not as well versed as perhaps I should be.

For some years I have had a few US cap badges and have always been aware of differences between them. I always meant to research them so that I might correctly place them but have yet to achieve that.

Here are four officers visor cap badges that I would like some advice on;

1. Is slightly smaller in comparison to recent pieces I have seen and I believe it to be WWII as the wing tips curve outwards quite obviously (I am told that is an idicator). It is brass and from the reverse looks like it might have been electro-plated. It has no maker marks.

2. Is the same size and appears gilt rather than elctro-plated and may originally have been frosted. The detail is excellent and it appears to be cast rather than die-stamped. The gilt seems 100% intact so I cannot see the base metal but from the level of detail and the weight I suspect it might be silver / silver alloy. The cloud is radically different in design but still has 13 stars. It is marked on the reverse for the Maker Ludlow of London but I suppose that just means it is post 1942.

3 & 4. Two very similar badges that I believe to be post war but can’t say more than that. They are both the same design and are larger than the first two. The are both plated brass . However, they appear to be from different dies if not different makers and have screw posts located in different places. Is this significant? Neither is marked.

So, I am challenging fellow members with the required expertise (I know you are out there, I can see you;) ) to help me to correctly pigeon hole these birds in my collection;

Regards

Mark