1930 Enlisted gilt "gooney"

[USMCRECON]

Here are two pairs of loose droopy-wing EGAs that I have lying around. I had a pair on a set of dress blues that I believe are replicas. I was going to swap them for one of these sets but am not sure about them. I'd like the forum's opinion. It seems that the composite picture of front and back, in sufficient detail, is too big to post both pictures together. For lack of a better description, this is EGA set #1. Opinions please.

 

[USMCRECON]

Here is the second set. Again, opinions please.

 

[GLM]

Bill,

 

From what I can see in your photos, both sets look fine to me. As long as the anti-roll pins are soldered to the eagles and not imbedded in the metal from a casting, it's fairly safe to say they're originals. The 1st set also has the square screw post bases and that's always a plus on these "Gooneys". What kind of roller nuts do they have?

 

Nice emblems!!

 

s/f, Gary

[teufelhunde.ret]

Hey Bill, I concur w/ Gary with his assessment. At first glance, this set looked a little "queer". After a few more look-see, They are OK. I think it was the casting/stamping crud along the anchor of the right collar emblem and along the eagle of the left collar emblem that caught my eye. But really not that uncommon given the extent to which the makers likely used their dies to produce these emblems. There is a subtle difference is overall appearance / configuration which leads me to suspect they may not have started life together. Have you looked to see what the discolouration is all about on the right collar emblem?

 

Interesting to note; I am very sad to see what that set of similar issue emblems went for on ebay last night. Yes they were a very desirable set, matched... consistent features, design, wear and so forth. BUT, way out of line for an issue / non-hallmarked set. This will only peak the interest of the copiers to invest their time in making fakes... only time will tell

[USMCRECON]

Hi Gary. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Both sets have soldered anti-roll pins. I feel better about them now. Since I found out that the pair I had gotten on a uniform several years ago were legit, but recently fouund out they are probably replicas I've been a bit gun-shy on some of my other older EGAs.

 

I guess I cropped the spinners off in an attempt to reduce the size of the pictures. The EGAs in set #1 have the old large spinners with slightly convex outer surfaces. The spinners that came with set #2 are not original to the EGAs. They actually fit rather loosely on the screwposts, are considerably smaller in diameter than the spinners for set #1, and just look like newer replacements. I can live with the newer spinners until such time as I can find another period set of fasteners as long as the EGAs themselves are original.

 

Thanks again for your comment and assessment of these EGAs. By the way, the droopy-wing EGAs that were on eBay (I posted a question of them yesterday afternoon as well) hovered at about $130 up to the last few seconds and then shot up to about $500 before closing. I don't have a really good handle on the value of these droopy-wing EGAs so do not really know but that seemed a bit high. Am I wrong in assessing their value?

[USMCRECON]

Darrell, Thanks for your assessment as well. I'm going to replace the set of (suspected replica) EGAs that came with my 1931-dated blues with one of these sets.

 

I really haven't messed around with the corroded areas at all. I've been afraid to do much for fear of causing further damage. By eye, it looks like places where a bit of the gilt has worn off and the underlying brass/bronze has tarnished and discolored it. I guess it won't hurt to do a bit of close-up NDI to it with a magnifying glass. The two EGAs did have a slightly different appearance to me as well but, not really knowing the variations of these EGAs all that well, was not sure if it was EGAs from two different sets or just the way they were made.

 

Regarding the EGAs that closed on eBay last night; I watched them close. I had actually loaded a bid into the automated bidding program that I often use, even though your comment from yesterday indicated they might be overpriced. I loaded a bid of $150, and I was feeling a bit embarassed at it but I wanted to make sure I had a good pair for that blouse (before knowing the two sets I posted here were legit). It was all moot anyway since they went well past my max before the autobidder even tried to place my bid. I was certainly a bit surprised to see the $500+ closing price. I freely admit that I don't have a really good handle on the going prices of these EGAs but that just seemed high to me.

[teufelhunde.ret]

Hi Bill, your likely reading my comments on the other post as I am replying here... so you know my feelings on that auction... WAY OVER THE TOP!!!

 

Frankly, I do not think anyone really has a handle of the prices of these emblems. I watch everyone that comes to ebay... so I have a good sense... so to speak... of what a realistic price should be. And condition plays allot into the equation, these were desirable as an "issue" set. But, these two went beyond reason. Under a normal auction scenario... your bid would have been close, however, if there were an EGA collector in the mix whom was looking to upgrade the quality of an existing set, they would have likely outbid you. IMHO... s/f Darrell

[USMCRECON]

Hi Darrell. I did read your comments on the other post. I screwed up with that one and posted it before realizing I had one more step to go to get to the EGA forum. Thanks for your thoughts on EGA pricing. I'll just have to keep watching for the EGAs I'm looking for and take my best shot when/if they show up.