A Milwaukee County Supervisor Badge

A Milwaukee County Supervisors Badge

This Milwaukee County Supervisors Badge is from the 7th ward. Most cities have wards from which they elect aldermen. In Milwaukee's early developmental stage the city had a small number of large area wards so when the county government was organized they just co-opted the ward system where it existed to elect county supervisors. In areas where no wards existed, townships were used to elect the supervisors. In time the population grew as did the number of wards while the geographical size of the wards shrank. By the mid twentieth century the county set up it's own supervisory districts system that we know today. The badge itself is a gold clad star meaning that there is a layer of gold on the front and on the back which sometimes can be clearly seen on the edge. The front layer is thicker and sometimes called gold face. The front layer is so thick that it can be engraved and the engraved area is then enameled. I ran a specific gravity test on this badge and the test results came in at 9.41-9.42 confirming that this badge is not solid gold. This badge is also not fineness marked which indicates that it was probably made before 1906. Thanks to Craig Luther of the Military Connection for bringing this badge to my collection!