Chriss Hoffman writes:

When is a Cinco Peso coin not a coin? When it's a Texas Ranger badge.

Before Walker, Texas Ranger started coming into our homes with a badge as big as our television screen, we have known about this elite law enforcement group. Known for toughness and fairness, Texas Rangers protected the earliest settlers of Texas (maybe numbering in the hundreds) and they continue to protect over 29 million of the 21st century residents of Texas. They are a point of pride in the state of Texas.

Like a Texas Ranger, the badge they carry or wear is very unique. In fact, when Stephen F. Austin formed the Rangers in 1823 to protect the Old Three Hundred, they did not have a badge. The first Texas Rangers may have had a written letter of commission, which did carry a lot of weight. But it's hard to picture a hardened cattle rustler paying much attention to a piece of paper. Heck, they may not have been able to read it.

The idea of a badge is simple and it dates to the Middle Ages, according to Byron Johnson, Director of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco. Large armies needed a way to identify friend or foe. A crest on a tunic or shield was a way to make that identification during the heat of hand-to-hand combat. Five hundred years later, on the border of Austin's colony and Mexico, and then along the frontier of Texas, identification was also important. And badges slowly came into use.

The first badge may have been linked to Ranger Leander McNelly, a member of the Special Force of the Texas Rangers established in 1875 that was charged with ending cattle rustling in the infamous Nueces Strip. McNelly's badge was probably a gift from local ranchers and while it has been described in authentic documents, it has not survived, according to Johnson.

The earliest surviving badge belonged to Texas Ranger Ira Aten and dates to the 1880s. Early badges, like the Aten badge, were more than likely gifts and were crafted by a local silversmith or the Ranger himself. Even then the preferred starting point was a Mexican coin (the Aten badge started as a Mexican Ocho Peso coin).

In 1935 the Texas Ranger badge was based on a shield design for the Highway Patrol. A 1950-era badge issued to the Rangers featured blue enamel paint and became known as the blue bottle cap badge, according to Johnson. Neither caught on with the rank and file.

It wasn't until 1961, when Homer Garrison, Jr. was head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, that the circle/star badge created from the Cinco Peso coin was issued by the state to all Texas Rangers. Texas Ranger Hardy L. Purvis donated the initial batch of Cinco Peso coins so all 62 Texas Rangers could be issued a badge. Purvis made the donation in memory of his father, Texas Ranger Captain Hardy B. Purvis, and his mother. In 2021, modern badges are made by three silversmiths/engravers in the state (one in Fort Worth, one in Bandera and one in Clarendon). Before anyone can start work, they need a letter of authorization from the Chief of the Texas Rangers to give them permission to complete the work. They use either the 1947 or 1948 Cinco Peso coin almost exclusively. Each coin goes through dozens of steps and countless hours of artistic effort to morph into a badge with a domed star and a flat rim.

The major issue for collectors of the Texas Ranger badge is fraud, Johnson says. The Texas Ranger badge is among the most sought-after law enforcement artifacts in the world, according to Johnson. With only a few hundred individuals in the Texas Rangers during the organization's 198-year history, the potential supply of original Texas Ranger badges is very small. To this day, when a Ranger dies, most bequeath their badge to their family, he explains.

Chriss adds:

To read the complete article, see:
The Cinco Peso Badge(https://authentictexas.com/the-cinco-peso-badge/)