WWII Sterling Paratrooper Wings - Struck from a Coin!

[lakenormanusa]

A set of paratroopers wings that from the back appear to have been struck from a coin.

 

Certainly something different!

 

 

 

[268th C.A.]

Whats even more intresting is coin silver is not sterling. kinda cool.

[katieony]

Now those are unique!

[skypilot6670]

Very nice. Thanks for posting

[Tonomachi]

In all the years of collecting variations of US paratrooper wings this is only the second one I have come across that looks like it was made from a coin. There was one made from a Mexican silver coin that popped up a number of years ago but it was clearly a fake due to the fact that it was cast. This piece looks real if it wasn't for the "raised" STERLING mark on the lower right hand corner. This wing shows signs of having had some hand filing finishing work done and it doesn't scream casting. This is just speculation but if this is real then whoever manufactured this piece probably dropped a coin into their die instead of a normal silver blank. The press would come down squeezing the coin and filling up the spaces within the die to include the raised STERLING mark. I wonder if this was a one time thing that an employee working the press decided to dropped a coin into the die to see what would happen or if this was done due to the lack of silver blanks and there are more of these out there? A very rare and interesting piece.

[BBG]

What kind of coin is it?

[jeff41st]

That is really neat. Nice variation to have in a collection.

[Garandomatic]

Looks like a Morgan silver dollar maybe...

[cwnorma]

Could be a US "Trade Dollar" from 1873-1878. Those were .900 and thus "sterling" Its hard to tell but the "A" visible to the right and the reeding look an awful lot like the A in "UNITED STATES" and heavy reeding on a Trade Dollar.

 

A few more pics of the back might help us determine what type of coin was used

 

Chris

[manayunkman]

Any story as to where they might come from?

[cwnorma]

If it is a Trade Dollar, that could actually make a sort of sense. The Trade Dollars were demonetized in 1876 due to the fluctuating cost of silver and were not re-monetized until the Coinage Act of 1965.

 

Around the time this badge might have been struck (1940s-1950s) Trade Dollars were only worth their melt value in silver. Superior conditioned specimens may have been in coin collections but heavily worn Trade Dollars would be considered scrap silver.

 

Not necessarily saying it was made from a Trade Dollar, I think I would need to see more pictures of what is left of the design to determine that.

 

Chris

[lakenormanusa]

Very interesting observations!

 

I have found a photo that shows the coin detail more closely.

It's seems to be visible mostly around the outside edges of the badge.

 

[cwnorma]

Well "STA" could be part of UNITED [sTA]TES OF AMERICA or "E[sTA]DOS UNITOS MEXICANOS"

 

Both countries also used "reeded" edges on their early coinage.

 

I take it from; "I found a photo..." that you don't have them on hand to take a better overall shot of the back? It's hard to make out any details in the current photos that might nail it down.

 

Chris

[Persian Gulf Command]

I'm going to call this one as I see it. First let me say that for a decade I was the Gallery Manager of a prominent rare coin gallery on the east coast. Essentially I was a Numismatist. Before you start thinking about asking me your coin collection, its been two decades since I bought or sold a coin for profit.

 

Regarding this set of wings. I personally believe it is a cast copy of what may have been a legitimate wing struck on a coin. Notice the "bumps" and irregularities on the reverse of the wings. If it was struck on a coin with enough force to rotate the reeding so that it would still appear and allow for the Sterling mark to be part of the relief on its reverse, the obverse of the wing design should be much crisper and fuller in detail. Additionally, the depth of the concave part of the canopy would be impossible, if it was struck out of a coin the thickness of a silver dollar of any denomination. The amount of the coin design and reeding seen should not be there as pressing into the coin so deeply should have flattened out much more of the relief of the original coin. Have you ever seen a coin with a deep concave surface? Striking a planchet requires the dies to have areas the metal "flows" into to provide the relief of the design. It is a very complex and difficult task to have a design show up inside a concave area of a die struck piece of metal. Yet this set of wings has the appearance of the shroud lines and the canopy on the reverse.

 

I must provide my apologies to the owner for being so opinionated about an item I have not held or examined personally. However, I would consider this set of wings a novelty at best.