Rusty Badges showing up 

by Greg Bourlotos

If you've notice lately, you see badges that have rust on them.This is not a new trend but as the badges made in china get older, they are subject to rusting. That's because the badges made are cheaply made as opposed to the ones made by GRAMMES. Finding badges without the rust is going to be an issue in the coming years. Take advantage of it NOW and buy the good ones showing up. I suspect in in the next 10 years badges graded Fine, Very Fine, near mint and mint are going to be hard to come by. Speaking of grading, here is the grading scale we use.

Mint

Near Mint

Very Fine

Fine

Very Good

Good

Poor

Noncollectable. 

Think before you repair a badge. Anything except a perfect repair makes the badge noncollectable. The repair should be so good , a person can't tell it was repaired. I see badges on ebay with "gobs" of solder melted to hold the pin. The badge is worthless.