Dear Larry,
Re:
ebay item: 280250811575
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/
I am a Calton enthusiast, and I have never seen a head badge like that on any carlton bike! On that bike, the lugs (capella) are early 1960's-1973.
I am getting the top tube replaced on my 1973 raleigh competition today, with those carlton capella lugs. my frame - the last of an era - was in a severe crash in 1975 and the top tube was crumpled in two places.
I don't think the paint on that bike (~quasi peugeot PX-10, chromed frame, black lugs) is original - i've never seen an original carlton with a PX-10 paint schema.. All of the graphics on this bike are missing. I think it's a low to midrange bike because it has a lamp bracket, pump peg, and brampton headset.
On that unusual badge, the script 'Carlton' is certainly the correct 'quick-scrawl' script for Carlton Cycles. The badge is a horizontal rectange with rounded and raised corners, with 'Carlton' embossed across the top of the oval, (maybe 'made in england' in fine print below), and two ends (like from a bow) hanging down below.
The problem with these frames is that the normal Carlton or Raleigh badges did not fit between the spikes of the capella lugs, in the 21.5 sizes and smaller. I have seen several versions of these frames where the spikes were clipped off, crookedly, to make space for the badge. The unusual badge on this cycle is only about 1" tall and importantly, is only 1/2" tall in the middle (because the bow-ends or wings hang down on either side of the centerline), which leaves plenty of space for the capella lugs. You can see the capella lugs stick into the badge area, actually.
You can also imagine that if the lugs were squeezed even closer together, as in a 20.5 frame, the badge would still fit, as there is another triangule space on the sides of the bows for the lug-tangs to sit within.
This is an elegant solution that imho may have been a prototype in 1960 when the badges were developed, or some other sort of limited run at the factory, imho.
I am cc'ing the carlton specialist of the veteran cycle club of the U.K., to ask if he has ever seen that type of badge before.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA