TENNESSEE HIGHWAY PATROL
January 24, 2007

The Tennessee Highway Patrol badge pictured with the rank of SERGEANT is a reproduction. The badge has quite a few mistakes, with the most noticeable one having to do with the state seal. This shell back badge should not be considered by serious collectors as it is department issue badge. It is strictly a movie prop or a novelty badge as closeup it does not come close to meeting department specifications. It should be valued at time and materials value only... probably around $30.

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TENNESSEE HIGHWAY PATROL
December 14, 2004

The Tennessee Highway Patrol badge is a stock die. That means that (1) any uniform store or badge dealer can order one, (2) it often makes the “department issue” badges hard to tell from the reproductions. As with most reproductions, normally there is always some mistake made to alert a serious collector about the badge not being “department issue”. This is where a copy of the BADGE GUIDE comes in handy.

This badge is a reproduction. The font size is wrong, there are problems with the state seal selected for this badge, and the stars are wrong.

While I am pointing out things that are wrong with the badge, there is one mistake that you should take a close look at… the stars. Although the THP badge does not have these little silver dots in the middle of the stars, the West Virginia State Police badge does use a star that has either a tiny star or dot (depending on how good your eyes are) in the middle of the larger star. So, we can alert you to two things with this photo. The THP does not have anything in the middle of their stars, and West Virginia does. If you happen to have a West Virginia State Police badge, you want stars like this.
This badge should be valued for material only, probably about $35, certainly no more.

Our publication tells the secrets of telling a "department issue" badge from a fake or a reproduction. Should you encounter a badge that you have questions about, do send us a copy of the photos, front and back. This will
help us in our efforts of telling other collectors what is out on the market these days. Should you encounter a state patrol badge and have questions about it, send us a photo of the badge, back and front, and let us give you an opinion. Remember, it is your input that alerts us to the fakes and reproductions that are out there. Support this site by telling us of questionable badges. Our BADGE GUIDE will assist you in collecting only valid badges, and will advise on a bracket price for each state.