T&P Railroad Special Police Badge

[GirlWithWolf]

Hello!

I’m asking for help to determine if this is an authentic badge or a replica. It is solid, heavy for the size, is 2 3/4 inches tall, and 2 1/8 inches wide (at the widest point).

I have found a couple for sale online, both authentic (supposedly) and replicas, but I can’t find any information about how to distinguish the two apart.

The back has writing on it but what you see is what you get, zooming in doesn’t give a better view than what I’ve posted. I’ve cleaned it up the best I can but I still can’t make out any of it.

Thank you for your opinions.

 

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[pepperj]

Hello!

I’m asking for help to determine if this is an authentic badge or a replica. It is solid, heavy for the size, is 2 3/4 inches tall, and 2 1/8 inches wide (at the widest point).

I have found a couple for sale online, both authentic (supposedly) and replicas, but I can’t find any information about how to distinguish the two apart.

The back has writing on it but what you see is what you get, zooming in doesn’t give a better view than what I’ve posted. I’ve cleaned it up the best I can but I still can’t make out any of it.

Thank you for your opinions.

Maybe a pencil over paper might show what's written. Plain white chalke sometimes works to highlight.
Looked at a lot of replicates and the sizes are a bit different also.

 

[GirlWithWolf]

Maybe a pencil over paper might show what's written. Plain white chalke sometimes works to highlight.
Looked at a lot of replicates and the sizes are a bit different also.

Great ideas, thank you!

 

[ToddsPoint]

How many do you want?🤣

 

[pepperj]

How many do you want?🤣View attachment 2171005

I gleaned so many ads, sites, and I couldn't find what an original badge looked like.
I would believe it would have had a # for each officer.
Then again some badges didn't require a #.

 

[GirlWithWolf]

I gleaned so many ads, sites, and I couldn't find what an original badge looked like.
I would believe it would have had a # for each officer.
Then again some badges didn't require a #.

Thank you! I finally found a replica with the same pin configuration on the back (teardrop shaped plate). All the others it either went across the top or was on a square plate in the middle, so I wondered if I had the real deal.

Authentic or not, I can’t help but wonder how long it had been lost in the middle of nowhere and who was there that lost it. The find was less than spectacular but the place amazing.

 

[Bucket Lister]

I gleaned so many ads, sites, and I couldn't find what an original badge looked like.
I would believe it would have had a # for each officer.
Then again some badges didn't require a #.

I thought I'd found an original--it had a #--but the owner admitted it's a repro too.

Authentic or not, I can’t help but wonder how long it had been lost in the middle of nowhere and who was there that lost it. The find was less than spectacular but the place amazing.

My guess would be a kid playing cops & robbers, and not more than a few decades. BICBW.

To an imaginative kid, a badge is a badge.

To find an original (if one indeed exists) I'd contact a RR museum, RR hysterical society, or even a model RR club. Somebody likely has one, a photo, or a book on the T&P with a pic.

 

[GirlWithWolf]

I thought I'd found an original--it had a #--but the owner admitted it's a repro too.

View attachment 2171052​

My guess would be a kid playing cops & robbers, and not more than a few decades. BICBW.

To an imaginative kid, a badge is a badge.

To find an original (if one indeed exists) I'd contact a RR museum, RR hysterical society, or even a model RR club. Somebody likely has one, a photo, or a book on the T&P with a pic.

Thank you 😊