There are several active EGA threads on the forum as this is being written and one of them mentions the thickness of the globes on the large EGA's for covers. Reading that made me realize why I picked up a certain EGA at a show this past weekend. It was not very finely detailed, but it had a nice bronze look and after reading the thick and thin EGA's reference, I realized the thickness of this one was part of what made it standout.

So the question is: are there any generally accepted dates as to when EGA's started being made thinner, "flatter"?

I photographed four EGA's this morning, two thick and two thin. The thin ones are very moden while the thick ones include the one I got at the show (the bronze 2nd from left in the photo) and one on the far right which is shiny gray, almost brown looking. All are screwback.




And if anyone has a guess as to the vintage of numbers 1 and 4 I'd be interested in hearing that.

Emblems one and three are of current design / pattern (for enlisted), having been introduced into use with the 1962 uniform regulation. Typically a collector will pick these up for a period display. The only real variation a "collector will seek out is the chocolate brown type of the 60's

Emblems two and four were of WW2 (1936 uniform regulations) enlisted vintage, and plenty abound today. Collectors will seek the "hallmarked" or "private purchase" types, the quarter master types sit on the table.

If you review the Museum Division Monograph on the Globe & Anchor, the officer's variety are specified "to be a perfect hollow half globe". The uniform reg's never specified (for enlisted emblems) this design character. For reasons I do not know, (and seemingly no answer) it would appear to have been left up to the manufacture how deep the globe was configured. Nonetheless, I have observed great relief and detail in both the "hollow half" and the "semi hollow half"

EGA collectors will always seek those with the best appearance/condition (unless known to be rare); relief; detail and foremost hallmarks. Gary will likely be on tonight, I hope he will add his thoughts as well. Thank you for sharing. Best regards;

Darrell said it all except for a slight mistake as to introduction date of the current M1955 emblem for Enlisted Marines. In the summer of 1954, President Eisenhower signed into law the Official Seal of the United States Marine Corps. From there on until the end of time, the Marine Corps emblem will never change in design again. In 1955, the new official Marine cover and collar emblems for EM's first started appearing in the supply system. Marine officers didn't change over to the M1955 design until 1962. Enlisted emblems were in chocolate brown from the 1955 changeover until 1963, when new regulations were adopted authorizing both EM and officer emblems to be worn in black finish only for service uniforms. Because Marine officers only wore the chocolate brown emblems for one year in 1962, these are considered some of the most difficult to find by collectors. The majority of brown M1962 Officer emblems were redone in black in 1963.

The current or M1955 emblem (#1) you asked about appears to have a black finish? If so, it would date from 1963 through current. The M1937 emblem (#4) you show appears to be one of the shiny, high gloss emblems of the Korean War period. These came in gun barrel blue finish and a grayish-green high gloss finish.

Gary

Gary is dead right... buy the man a beer! Forgetting the seal change was a big forget. Gary will correct me if wrong; the collars emblems continued in both clutchback and screwback thru this period. As was common practice, senior Marines continued wear of the emblems they obtained upon entry in the Corps. A custom that has sadly gone away.