The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Share #1 Posted June 15, 2018 Greetings all, Im new to the forum and have been collecting wings for about two months. Very addicting hobby! Today I am posting 4 wings which I like the best out of what I have. What do you all think about these? First one is a minty LGB. They look like they were stored and never worn. They don't fake these kind of wings as much as the air corps wings do they? These look brand new! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #2 Posted June 15, 2018 I don't know how to add the back side yet??? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #3 Posted June 15, 2018 Okay here is the back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #4 Posted June 15, 2018 Wing number two.. Its an am craft with a broken latch but it was only 40 bucks and its one of the more interesting designs in my humble opinion. Got a bit of weight to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted June 15, 2018 Backside Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #6 Posted June 15, 2018 This one is a little bit bigger than the others. Its unmarked but its a really nice wing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #7 Posted June 15, 2018 Back side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #8 Posted June 15, 2018 Im leaving what I think is my best wing for last. Its pre ww2 I think??? If anyone can shed more light on this one I'd sure appreciate it. I will include a pic of the side. its not smooth like other wings. If anyone is interested.. I can try to get some better clearer shots of the sides. Thank you for checking these out. Great forum. You all have lots of knowledge. Ive been reading the comments here and studying up. Great hobby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #9 Posted June 15, 2018 Back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #10 Posted June 15, 2018 Side… the overall shape of these is gull wing. They are not flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #11 Posted June 15, 2018 Thank you everyone. Mainly collecting navy, but I will include other wings in further posts. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #12 Posted June 15, 2018 One more of my overall navy collection thus far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share #13 Posted June 15, 2018 Thanks to Patrick for posting my oldest wings for me in an earlier post before I was a member of this great forum!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted June 15, 2018 Share #14 Posted June 15, 2018 Welcome Dave. Very nice collection! Especially for only collecting for such a short time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve L Posted June 15, 2018 Share #15 Posted June 15, 2018 rooster77, Welcome and thank you for joining this forum, you'll be glad you did, just as I did. You have a wonderful assortment of US Naval wing badges, all authentic die struck examples, although I wanted to share my opinion on your 1st example, the minty LGB Naval Aviator, I own a minty, like new LGB USAAF Flight Engineer wing with the same perfectly textured reverse. These wings are authentic LGB, struck from their original dies, and generally with nos attachment hardware affixed, however they are not period struck. LG Balfour held on to their WW2 period dies, and made re strikes available around the 70's. For a period one could actually order any wing from LGB's catalog, as long as they had the die for it. Knowing this I still covet mine. They were not available that long and are stunningly beautiful in person. They are not to be put in the same category as N.S. Meyer's re strikes that flood the market. I personally would like this piece of LGB history in my collection. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted June 15, 2018 Share #16 Posted June 15, 2018 Steve is correct, I think they called that the "satin" finish. You originally start seeing LGB wings with that finish and the 1-B mark. The I-B mark was something that they seemed to use after WWII/KW and before the Institute of Heraldry instituted their alpha/numeric numbering system in the late 50's early 60's. The WWII/KW era wings were just gold plated and its not rare to find them with various levels of tarnish as the gold plating was lost. Also, I suspect that there was a huge amount of WWII era surplus insignia floating around and so ironically I have the impression that the LGB wings with the satin finish and/or 1-B hallmark are actually relatively rarer than the WWII stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-17Guy Posted June 16, 2018 Share #17 Posted June 16, 2018 Great start to USN wing badges! By the way, the later LGB wings are easy to spot because the hallmark itself has the heavy block letter style backmark, rather then the early style skinny letters from WWII. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share #18 Posted June 16, 2018 Hey thank you guys! So fill me in a little. Im assuming the ones marked balfour are the earlier wings? And like John says the heavy LGB like mine are latter? What is the time frame for those? At first I was thinking the big LGB wings were the older hallmark? The thing about that pair of wings is that in person.. they look unworn. The pin is even stiff and only opens so far. I dont want to force it. They look like they sat in a box since they were made. Im finding wings like this being sold by people who dont deal in militaria but just picked them up somewhere. These LGB Wings were labeled as a hat lapel pin.......I happened to scroll down and found they were full size. No other bidders and no watchers. For $50.00 ! I personally like my oldest Navy wings. They jumped out at me !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-17Guy Posted June 16, 2018 Share #19 Posted June 16, 2018 Actually, the Balfour and LGB backmarks were used concurrently. Balfour was first used in 1913 and LGB in 1919, although neither were trademarked till the 40s. To be clear, the are two styles of the LGB backmark, yours, with heavy block letters which is later and the first style (see pic), which appears to have been used till sometime around the mid 1940s at least. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 16, 2018 Author Share #20 Posted June 16, 2018 Cool! Thank you B-17 Guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kropotkin Posted June 23, 2018 Share #21 Posted June 23, 2018 rooster77, Welcome and thank you for joining this forum, you'll be glad you did, just as I did. You have a wonderful assortment of US Naval wing badges, all authentic die struck examples, although I wanted to share my opinion on your 1st example, the minty LGB Naval Aviator, I own a minty, like new LGB USAAF Flight Engineer wing with the same perfectly textured reverse. These wings are authentic LGB, struck from their original dies, and generally with nos attachment hardware affixed, however they are not period struck. LG Balfour held on to their WW2 period dies, and made re strikes available around the 70's. For a period one could actually order any wing fro LGB's catalog, as long as they had the die for it. Knowing this I still covet mine. They were not available that long and are stunningly beautiful in person. They are not to be put in the same category as N.S. Meyer's re strikes that flood the market. I personally would like this piece of LGB history in my collection. Steve This is something I wasn’t aware of until now. In all of the threads I’ve read on here it’s only really been Meyer restrikes that have been discussed. So is the textured reverse the only way to tell these restrikes? Are there any other tells to look out for? Also, does anyone have any examples to share? I’m keen to understand what to look for, just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted June 23, 2018 Share #22 Posted June 23, 2018 Actually there are likely a few other resttikes. I believe a couple or mor "collectors" hit up the original manufactures in the 70's and 80's. LGB Myers and Blackinton come to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kropotkin Posted June 23, 2018 Share #23 Posted June 23, 2018 Hmmm, this is a difficult business to be in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted June 23, 2018 Share #24 Posted June 23, 2018 Not really. As long as you do a little homework and ask questions on the forum, you ought to do well. In fact, it seems that there is a LOT more really good and accurate information for new collectors than when I first started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rooster Posted June 24, 2018 Author Share #25 Posted June 24, 2018 Not really. As long as you do a little homework and ask questions on the forum, you ought to do well. In fact, it seems that there is a LOT more really good and accurate information for new collectors than when I first started. I learned a heck of a lot in a short time thanks to this forum and its members and their websites. Nothing like having good info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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