19thc Canadian Militia Hat Badge

ANTIQUARIAN

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Apr 24, 2010
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Upper Canada 🇨🇦
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Relic Hunting

I had a couple of hours free this afternoon, so I headed to a site that I’ve hit occasionally since 2014. My first find was a 1928 Penny, my second signal was a
c1870 - 80 Canadian Militia Hat Badge. After that it was penny, penny, penny… well you get the idea! :laughing7: My last find of the hunt was a late-19thc fork, I probably find 50 spoons for every fork. :icon_scratch:

Canadian Militia 10th Regiment of Royal Grenadiers

c1870 - 80 Cap Badge of the Royal Grenadiers of Canada 10th Regt. This badge was worn by someone who belonged to the Canadian Militia that existed from the time of the Canadian Confederation in 1867, through the 1885 North West Rebellion, South African War and First World War. These soldiers were active in contributing trained men to the Contingents, often volunteering en masse for Overseas Service. During the First World War, many CEF Battalions carried on the name, number or identity of the parent Militia Regiment often traveling to England wearing the Militia insignia. Many Militia Regiments operated as during WWI as recruitment and initial training venues for men destined for the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The pre-1920 Militia badges were invariably of very high quality reflecting the standards of the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods when they were made.

The Royal Regiment of Canada originated in Toronto, Ontario on 14 March 1862, when 'The 10th Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles, Canada' was authorized to be formed. It was redesignated: 'The 10th Battalion Volunteer Militia (Infantry) Canada' on 21 November 1862. It then became 'The Tenth or "Royal Regiment of Toronto Volunteers"' on 10 April 1863, then ‘The 10th Battalion "Royal Grenadiers"' on 5 August 1881 and then ‘The 10th Regiment "Royal Grenadiers"' on 8 May 1900.

Thanks very much for looking and stay healthy! :thumbsup:

Dave
 

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Upvote 23
Sweet hat badge Dave. Everything cleaned up nice.
 

That badge is incredible, thanks for including the history!
 

Congrats on the great finds. The hat badge is incredible and cleaned up real nice.
 

That 1928 penny looks lonely Dave [emoji20]. How would you like to trade that hat badge for the 1928 quarter I found today so it has its brother?... [emoji3074] [emoji3074][emoji3074][emoji3074]Hello?

I can’t understand why I’m only hearing crickets [emoji2371]
 

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Awesome looking badge! Will look great in your collection. Congratulations!
 

Beautiful finds- Congrats!
 

Some great looking cents but that hat badge is awesome. Everything cleaned up nicely.
 

That’s a cool looking hat badge
 

Sweet hat badge Dave. Everything cleaned up nice.

Thanks very much bud. :thumbsup:
The soil here is black and very rich, maybe that helped to preserve it somewhat?
Dave


That badge is incredible, thanks for including the history!

Thanks for your post Dave, great to hear from you my friend!
Dave


Congrats on the great finds. The hat badge is incredible and cleaned up real nice.

Thanks Gene, this find was definitely a surprise for me from this site. :thumbsup:
I've never found anything here that referenced a military family lived here.
Maybe a visitor dropped it when they dismounted their horse, as I found it very close to the road. :icon_scratch:
Dave



Just plain awesome......:thumbsup: that will look great in a case.

Thank you Sir, I already have it displayed in my 'Finds Truck'. :laughing7:
See the pic at the bottom here.
Dave


That 1928 penny looks lonely Dave. How would you like to trade that hat badge for the 1928 quarter I found today so it has its brother?... Hello?

I can’t understand why I’m only hearing crickets

Oh man, that's a really tempting offer. :icon_scratch:

You're hearing crickets, because I have the volume muted so you can't hear me laughing. :laughing7:

Thanks for your post,
Dave



Awesome looking badge! Will look great in your collection. Congratulations!

Thanks very much Anton. :thumbsup:
I'm curious, with all of the amazing relics that you find, have you ever found something similar?

The reason I ask, is that I couldn't find an exact match to the one I found online.
I did find a similar example but it was dated 1881, but because of how the '10' is engraved on mine, I feel it may be an earlier example? :icon_scratch:
Dave



Beautiful finds- Congrats!

Thank you Jeff. :thumbsup:


Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!
Thanks for your support Randy! :occasion14:
Dave



Some great looking cents but that hat badge is awesome. Everything cleaned up nicely.

Thank you for your post mindcrime. :icon_thumleft:
My companies head office is in Menomonee Falls and I've done some detecting there.
You have a beautiful capital building in Madison as well, I visited there right after they'd finished the restoration in 1998.

Best of luck to you,
Dave
 

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That hat badge is a wonderful recovery! You had a great hunt. The history you posted is really interesting.
 

Thanks very much Anton. :thumbsup:
I'm curious, with all of the amazing relics that you find, have you ever found something similar?
The reason I ask, is that I couldn't find an exact match to the one I found online.
I did find a similar example but it was dated 1881, but because of how the '10' is engraved on mine, I feel it may be an earlier example?
Dave


No, I have never found anything similar. It does look earlier than late 1800's.
 

I was bored and this is a great find on your part so I went down the rabbit hole. Are you sure this is a hat badge? Take a look at this history of the 10th (pretty unstable site btw). https://electriccanadian.com/forces/cihm_00552.pdf

Their hat badges are way more elaborate BUT they do have elements of this. Now also take a look at their necks in most of the pictures. Certainly looks familiar no?

IMG_9115.jpg
IMG_9108.jpgIMG_9109.jpgIMG_9112.jpg

Given that the regiment was designated a different battalion number for the Great War, I think you could safely say this is definitely pre-1914.

IMG_9114.jpg

Now for the beautiful thing here. It looks like this badge might have been used as early as the Fenian Raids but one of this regiments major actions was fighting in the North-West Rebellion of 1885, seeing heavy action in the Battle of Batoche. Having grown up an hour from there I can tell you this is still a huge event in the West and still has a lasting impact on the history of this country.
 

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That hat badge is a wonderful recovery! You had a great hunt. The history you posted is really interesting.

Thanks creskol, I certainly haven't found anything like this lately.
I sure would like to know exactly when this badge dates to though. :dontknow:
Dave


That's gorgeous congrats

Thanks very much plymouthian! :thumbsup:



No, I have never found anything similar. It does look earlier than late 1800's.

Thanks Anton, I appreciate you answering my question.
icon_thumleft.gif

Dave



I was bored and this is a great find on your part so I went down the rabbit hole. Are you sure this is a hat badge? Take a look at this history of the 10th (pretty unstable site btw). https://electriccanadian.com/forces/cihm_00552.pdf

Their hat badges are way more elaborate BUT they do have elements of this. Now also take a look at their necks in most of the pictures. Certainly looks familiar no?

Given that the regiment was designated a different battalion number for the Great War, I think you could safely say this is definitely pre-1914.

Now for the beautiful thing here. It looks like this badge might have been used as early as the Fenian Raids but one of this regiments major actions was fighting in the North-West Rebellion of 1885, seeing heavy action in the Battle of Batoche. Having grown up an hour from there I can tell you this is still a huge event in the West and still has a lasting impact on the history of this country.
Thanks very much for the amazing information DTC!
occasion14.gif

This might very well be a uniform collar tab, but the example I found online was the same size and identified as a "cap badge".

Thanks again
Dave
 

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Very nice Cap Badge in good condition!
 

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