Pair of FIRMIN Lt. Col. Oak Leaves + 1 Other Maker

[dc9]

Hello All,

 

I am afraid I've been bitten by whatever bug is out there that compels me to search for rarer marked rank insignia...

 

Based on my last posting (http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=96522&hl=) and "doyler's" suggestion of rarity; I decided to purchase these "FIRMIN LONDON" marked Lt. Col. Oak Leaves set with the hope they are WWII era. I don't see any types of marking that would indicate they are sterling, so I am wondering, 1) are they WWII era, and 2) are they unmarked sterling?

 

The third Oak Leaf in the set is a pinback, "sterling" marked piece, and I am wondering if anyone might know the maker.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Eric

[Sabrejet]

Your Firmin Lt. Col's leaves are spot-on. British-made insignia was usually made of plated base metal, hence no "Sterling" mark as frequently found on US-made silver insignia. Nice honest pair!

 

Sabrejet :thumbsup:

[dc9]

Your Firmin Lt. Col's leaves are spot-on. British-made insignia was usually made of plated base metal, hence no "Sterling" mark as frequently found on US-made silver insignia. Nice honest pair!

 

Sabrejet :thumbsup:

 

Thank you, Sabrejet for the confirmation on the Firmin's!

 

Hopefully, we can find a maker for the other Oak.

 

Eric

[USMCRECON]

Your Firman pair look very nice. I have a couple pairs of oak leaves with the exact same backing as the singleton you have. I may be wrong but it looks like someone took a file or grinder to a pair of standard Army/Army Air Corps oak leaves and ground/filed them flat. It doesn't look like it was done all that carefully at that; parts of the spine of the leaf has been removed as well.

 

Here are the backs of the two pairs I have that look like the back of the odd man out in your three-some.

 

 

And here is what I believe yours looked like before it was assaulted by some sort of abrasive device. Mine are also marked sterling and are absent a maker's marking.

 

[dc9]

Your Firman pair look very nice. I have a couple pairs of oak leaves with the exact same backing as the singleton you have. I may be wrong but it looks like someone took a file or grinder to a pair of standard Army/Army Air Corps oak leaves and ground/filed them flat. It doesn't look like it was done all that carefully at that; parts of the spine of the leaf has been removed as well.

 

Here are the backs of the two pairs I have that look like the back of the odd man out in your three-some.

 

 

And here is what I believe yours looked like before it was assaulted by some sort of abrasive device. Mine are also marked sterling and are absent a maker's marking.

 

 

Wow, Bill,

 

Quite an interesting (and astute) observation! I assumed that file marks were simply a natural part of the "grain/texture" associated with this particular maker. Upon closer examination, I would agree that a somewhat crude, but delicate and determined, effort was made to manually remove the texture of a standard Army/Army Air Corps oak leaf insignia. Maybe the original owner wanted something "stylized" more closely to an USMC oak, despite the larger size(1 1/8" x 1")...I am sure we will never know the real story!

 

Eric

[Shakethetrees]

I think the oddball file marked piece is made overseas. It looks like a sand casting where the detail didn't come out as hoped. If you need an insignia, this will work until supply lines open up.

[Shakethetrees]

I stand corrected! This is a die struck piece with all the obverse detail filed off. In going over my errant post, I noticed the raised sterling mark on the reverse. This would not be there in a sand casting.