NOTA BENE: These cap badges are "Museum Copy," made only for the United States Navy's Naval Historical Center at the Washington Navy Yard in the District of Columbia. They were manufactured to specifications of the original regulations. They have authentic gold and silver-wire bullion embroidery on black velvet backing. The rank straps are also according to regulations; rank straps were replaced with shoulder marks in 1898. These cap badges were authorized from 1852 to 1869 when a cap badge much like the one used today was authorized, very few changes took place since 1869.
