Wanted: Hunting & Fishing License Badges

If you have any licenses to sell, or other Hunting & Fishing pins. Click Here to e-mail me.

(click on any picture to enlarge)

Below are a few badges from my collection, as well as information on fake licenses and more.

The hobby of collecting Hunting and Fishing licenses has become more and more popular. There are still very few dedicated collectors, but many hunting and fishing tackle collectors will add a few to add color to their collections. Many states issued license badges. This began in the teens with New York, but was adopted by other states in the 1920s. Badges from New York and Pennsylvania are relatively common and inexpensive. Badges from other states vary in scarcity, but southern badges are among the most popular. Most states stopped using badges in the 1930s-1940s. Pennsylvania continued using them till 1975. Many collectors also collect paper licenses, but the badges tend to have more value. Some hunting and fishing clubs also produced badges for their members, and these are collectible also, though they are usually inexpensive. If you have any badges you would like to sell, or would just like some more information on badges, please contact me below.

Fake Badges

Well some sad news for license collectors. I had heard there were fake license badges out there, and have been able to confirm it, and purchase some of the fake badges to show. 

1927-1928 Florida State Resident Fishing License Badge. I have seen at least 6 of these on eBay, and have also seen a few being offered by dealers. So far every one of them has had the same number on it, 3357. As you can see someone has artificially aged it, even added a few stains to the front.  This particular badge was being offered on eBay. The seller did not know it was a fake, and once I provided her pictures of other badges with the same number,  she cancelled the auction. I have the badge in my possession now, and taking a look at it, it is printed off-center, and there is a yellow and purple stain on the right that looks like it is reproduced in the photo that was used to make the badge. The printing is very fuzzy.  You can see a distinct dot pattern from the printing. What they have done is take an old back off some other badge, and used that to make the repro look old. I am not sure if the rust staining on the front and edges was reproduced from the photo, or was done by exposing the badge to water. I can see this badge fooling a new collector, or even an experienced collector if they bought it without having it in their hand, or if they did not look at it carefully 1 3/4 inches. Recently some 2 1/4 inch fakes have shown up. The second badge is a repro commemorative badge made, and marked, for the Florida Antique Tackle Club. I have seen the FATC badges being sold as old, also. 

Fake North Carolina Badge

The badge, above left, came from the Bob Timberlake Gallery in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Cost was $2.95. It isn't a full reproduction, as you can see it is a repro of the 1938 badge, but they changed the date to 1937 (someone told me Timberlake was born in 1937), and they reversed the colors of the black and silver, the pin on the back is different, the new badge is constructed out of cheaper metal, the old badge is nickel plate on brass, and the old badge is concave. New badge is flat. Even with these differences I will bet some folks will be selling the new badge as old, and probably some will be replacing the new style pin, and dirtying the badge up a bit to make it look old. The new badge is made in China. I have seen eight other fake North Carolina badges have been reproduced,  The first fake badge  was a 1939 County Hunting badge,  a very poor fake done on a modern badge machine, with poor photocopying 1 3/4 inch. The other 7 were 2 1/4 inch fakes on eBay. From the pictures they looked like they might be hard to tell . 

The badges above were bought on eBay October 3, 2003, they were sold as reproductions. 1 3/4 inches each. New backs, blurred printing, probably photocopies. A poor reproduction, but rough them up a bit, rust the backs, and etc. and  could fool new collectors, or they  could fool people over the internet with a small or poor picture. With these were also some of the  fake #3357 Florida badges as shown above, but with new backs.  The company making these badges is also making other fake badges, golf, shooting, gun company, and etc. They are also making 2 1/4 inch fakes.. I marked Repro on the back of each with indelible ink. 

Fake 1935 Michigan Resident Trout License

The dealer had it tagged as a reproduction, and this one is fairly easy to tell. First it is larger than normal at 2 1/16 inches. I think it was done on one of the badge a minute machines. Has a light weight metal back, lightweight pin. there is some crumpling on the edges where the paper from the print is gathered. The printing is quite good, but does have the characteristic dot patterns of modern printing. After posting this, someone e-mailed me and told me that " all fakes of the Michigan 1935 license badge have the same number 112443. In fact, Michigan never issued a 1935 Resident Trout license badge".

The last few months I have been seeing many fake badges for sale on eBay. Some are 1 3/4 inch fakes, some  aged to look old and fool collectors. Some are 2 1/4 inch reproductions. I have seen New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, California, Mississippi, and others. Some sellers are selling them as old, some are selling them as reproductions. One of the problems is that even the sellers that are being honest are selling badges that are not plainly marked as reproductions. Unscrupulous sellers are buying these badges on eBay and then selling them as old, original badges. The quality of these fakes vary from good quality fakes that might fool a collector, to very poor fakes that are unlikely to fool anyone with a personal inspection of the badge. The problem is that all a person has to go by on eBay is a small picture, the description, and the experience and honesty of the seller. Know your seller. If you have any doubts ask questions. Ask if they will stand behind the age and authenticity of the badge, and offer a money back guarantee. . 

 Someone also e-mailed me about Minnesota badges: "Minnesota only issued one license badge or button, which is a 1927 Minnesota Non-Resident Fishing License Button. All repros I have seen have the same number 79580, and have been "aged" to look old. They are done very well."

A couple of thoughts on how to tell fakes from old badges.

I see early Nevada and California hunting licenses stamped into metal tags. I have always questioned the authenticity of these tags because I see different shapes and metals used for the same stamp. But I cannot confirm whether they are reproductions or not. If anyone has information, please let me know. 

There are reproduction Game Warden badges out there, so be careful. 

Fake? Alberta Game Guardian Badge

This could possibly be an actual old badge, and I bought it as such, but the seller had an identical badge for sale the very next week, and I have since seen several others like it at antique malls,  flea markets, and one on eBay. 

Heavy, well made, nickel plated brass, heavy duty pin. Marked on the back "Jackson Bros. Edmonton". 1 3/4 by 1 7/8 inches. If someone has more information on this badge, it would be appreciated. 

Some books on collecting antique hunting & fishing licenses:

Michigan Hunting & Fishing License Collector's Club

www.mhflcc.com

For folks interested in collecting hunting & fishing licenses, Michigan, and other states. 

To visit one of our other pages, click on one of the links below:

I collect, sell, and trade fishing & hunting license badges and other hunting and fishing related pins. If you have any badges to sell or trade, please e-mail me at the address below. I am primarily interested in southern licenses, but will consider other badges. 

If you have any badges to sell, or just want some information:

 Click Here to e-mail

Telephone: (828)-437-5938 10-4 Closed Weds. and Sun.  EST

North Carolina Hunting & Fishing License Badges

I also collect other hunting and fishing badges, pins, and etc. You can see some examples on the pages below:

Field & Stream Award Badge Information

Hunting and Fishing Badges, Pins, Medals, and etc

Hunting & Fishing Memorabilia

The badges shown on this page are not for sale, but I do have fishing & hunting  badges for sale or trade on the following pages:

Old Fishing and Hunting License and Club Button Sales Page

Every badge I sell is an authentic, old, badge, unless noted otherwise. I guarantee such, and if you have doubts, you are welcome to return the item for a refund. Make sure any dealer will stand behind what he sells.

Text and Images Copyrights 1997-2012 Drexel Grapevine Antiques ©

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