British Helmet Plates are most commonly made from Brass, painted black, White Metal or Chromed Metal, depending on age.

 The Brass is the either coated with nickel or Chrome, or up until the late 1970`s  they could also be painted black. Only one force still wears Black helmet plates today, and that is Durham.

The White Metal (or WM) helmet plates, is a type of white brass, and some Senior officers Hat badges were made of Silver, those that were will have a hallmark.

There is often some confusion to non UK collectors regarding the Crowns on the Helmet plates and cap badges and what the Various Cyphers stand for.

Below is the most common Crown seen today this is the Queens Crown or (QC)

The "E11R" cypher stands for Elizabeth Regina 2nd, the first Queen Elizabeth being  the one in the time of the Spanish Armada.  The different Monarchs having different Fonts in their Cyphers.

 The helmet plate shown is from a non Home Office Force ( I will explain later!!) this being a particularly ornate  Enameled helmet plate from the  Port of Tilbury  London Police. This shows a helmet plate with a Coat of Arms rather than a Royal Cypher.

The Cypher on the cap badge below that clearly shows the EIIR Cipher, this particular Badge being a Senior Officers three piece Cap Badge from the City of London Police. This type of Crown has been proudly worn by Police and Military since 1953 when Queen Elizabeth became the current Monarch.

 Prior to the Queens Crown helmet plates and Badges were the Kings Crown (or KC) this example being a Metropolitan Police Inspectors Helmet Plate with the GVIR cypher (George Rex) of King George VI.

The correct names for the various Crowns starting with Queen Victoria and working to current are as follows

 Guelphic

Imperial

Tudor

Edward

 Below are a set of photos showing the cyphers as they were worn on Metropolitan Police Helmet plates, from George V to Queen Elizabeth they are an example only, because not every Police Force used Cyphers on their helmet plates, many in fact still wear a coat of arms. 

 Now, prior to the George V Helmet Plate, there are in the Metropolitan Police alone, some 15 different helmet plates which cover the start of Issue in Queen Victoria's Era, through to 1910, only one of which carried a Royal Cypher, that being a "VR" on a pre 1902 Chief Superintendent ceremonial plate. As you will see from the pictures there is very little difference in the shape of the Kings Crown on the helmet plates. I have used the Black or Night duty helmet plates for clarity. The Cyphers would look the same in any force that used them.

 Now a word of Warning for collectors both old and new, just because a badge has a Queen Victoria Crown on it, it doesn't necessarily mean that it dates to Pre 1901 (when Queen Victoria Died for those that don't know)

 Some Forces, for example Hertfordshire still wear the Victorian or Guelphic crown on their Cap badges today! see the cap badge below.

Is it or Isn't it??

Other forces like Wolverhampton wore a Victorian Crown on their Cap Badges up until 1963, I have seen these being sold on the Internet as Victorian Helmet Plates by sellers who genuinely believe it to be so! ( if you are a buyer and are reading this I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news!)

The Kings Crown was worn in Scotland on their cap badges (Scottish National, Ayrshire Constabulary & Aberdeen City) up to 1975, when the current QC Scottish National cap badge was introduced. (Thanks Alistair!)

 Some forces such as Blackpool Police  at the turn of the last century had the smaller type helmet plate, However they increased its size and in my opinion its looks by attaching the older plate onto a larger plain Brunswick star making a very impressive looking badge.

 British Police Helmet Plates have come in a variety of shapes sizes and materials over the years. Not all are immediately obvious as being Police badges. A general guide for the UK, is that most Military Badges are made of Brass or "stay bright", and show brass colouring, with a few exceptions,  and the opposite is true of Police Badges, most will be either Black (on brass), White Metal or Chrome, again with a few exceptions.

Some HP`s (helmet plates) are constructed of several individual Parts, the Isle of Man Police force Helmet plate is constructed of three different parts as was the Southampton Police (QC)

Many of the earlier Black on Brass HP's were of two piece construction, this being  the Brunswick star shaped badge with either the ruling Monarchs Cypher or the Force Coat of Arms mounted in the Centre, despite the badge being black the Ciphers and coats of arms were as a rule chrome. See the Birmingham City Police Badge below. The other badge shown is from the Scottish Lanarkshire Constabulary and was worn as a Cap Badge, to the novice this could just be a badge from anywhere, however a closer look reveals a "Motto" below the figures, which identify the badge. The same with the last badge, no Force name, but the Motto shows it to be a rather rare KC Isle of White Constabulary Helmet Plate.

Below is a list of Common Abbreviations and their meanings

 Voided and Non - Voided badges

The photos below show on the left, a correct and genuine voided  City of London Police Cap Badge, believe it or not, the Cypher is actually hand sawn by a skilled craftsman. This is also an example of one of the rare Plain Brass badges worn by Police. The photo on the right shows a correct and genuine North Riding Constabulary, non voided cap badge, as you can see, there are no holes in it !

 Thanks to Leif Bailey for the use of some of his Photographs.

A few Pictures of SOME Metropolitan Police Badges

If you can fill any gaps in the list above, with a good quality photo from your collection, please feel free to send me  it and I will gladly add it. Thank you

Grand Ideas

Most collectors start of with good intentions,  many start with a  badge or item given to them by a fellow officer, visiting from another country, or they see a nice badge at an antique mall and decide to buy it because its cheap... that's when the bug bites.  Many start off intending to stay with just one particular Force or Branch or Unit.  This can create problems and disappointments  if you don't research your subject thoroughly. Personally I started of with the intent of only collecting Helmet plates and Cap Badges from the Metropolitan Police in London, after a bit of research and a Visit to the Force Museum I soon realised I had set out on an almost impossible task. Even the Museum didn't have some of the Badges worn by Met Officers over the years. So I have to pace myself and get what ever comes along, sometimes you get lucky, and the most unexpected item turns up  from the least expected  source, and that's what keeps you going. Just  don't have the idea that having selected a particular field  or force, no matter how big they may be, that you will get ALL the badges in a short time. Sometimes it is a lifetimes work and others an impossible dream.