Sabrejet Posted March 31, 2011 Share #1 Posted March 31, 2011 I'm intrigued as to why this mint/carded 50s era EM's infantry collar brass has a silverish look about it. The NS Meyer backing card clearly describes the insignia as being "gold plated". Is this a manufacturing error? Any suggestions? Thanks. Sabrejet :think: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan H. Posted March 31, 2011 Share #2 Posted March 31, 2011 It is WHITE gold. Seriously! :thumbsup: Silver insignia was really popular in the mid to late 1950's and was authorized to be worn on the uniform until just a few years ago. I distinctly recall silver eagle buttons on a number of officers' class A's back in the 80's and 90's when I was playing army. In fact, I knew a dentist, O-6 type, who wore silver buttons and silver brass. I know you could buy white gold finished insignia at Marlow White's and other premier uniform clothing companies. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted March 31, 2011 It is WHITE gold. Seriously! :thumbsup: Silver insignia was really popular in the mid to late 1950's and was authorized to be worn on the uniform until just a few years ago. I distinctly recall silver eagle buttons on a number of officers' class A's back in the 80's and 90's when I was playing army. In fact, I knew a dentist, O-6 type, who wore silver buttons and silver brass. I know you could buy white gold finished insignia at Marlow White's and other premier uniform clothing companies. Allan No kidding?! Sabrejet :w00t: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atb Posted March 31, 2011 Share #4 Posted March 31, 2011 It was termed "white gold" and all metal insignia had to match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtA Posted April 1, 2011 Share #5 Posted April 1, 2011 It is WHITE gold. Seriously! :thumbsup: Silver insignia was really popular in the mid to late 1950's and was authorized to be worn on the uniform until just a few years ago. I distinctly recall silver eagle buttons on a number of officers' class A's back in the 80's and 90's when I was playing army. In fact, I knew a dentist, O-6 type, who wore silver buttons and silver brass. I know you could buy white gold finished insignia at Marlow White's and other premier uniform clothing companies. Allan I was in from 1980 until 1983 and wore silver buttons and silver brass on my greens and blues. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 1, 2011 Share #6 Posted April 1, 2011 Interesting. I didn't know they used silver that long. I thought that when white gold was introduced (from the ambiguity of the regulations when using the term "gold") it only had a short life until it was cracked down on. Always learning! -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted April 1, 2011 "Always learning!" Me too! Thanks for the info gentlemen. Ian :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanmc1114 Posted April 1, 2011 Share #8 Posted April 1, 2011 I have a number of these from Ira Green, Inc. in the domed style from the 50's. Some, like the one pictured here, say "The Original 18 Karat Gold Plated" while a few say "Platina Finish 18 Karat Gold Plated". Some include one "U.S." disc and one Infantry disc and some contain two "U.S." discs. Based on your card with two Infantry discs, I would guess they were sold like that in the 50's when two sets of discs were worn on the uniform, one pair of "U.S." discs on the upper lapel and a pair of branch discs on the lower lapel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share #9 Posted April 1, 2011 I have a number of these from Ira Green, Inc. in the domed style from the 50's. Some, like the one pictured here, say "The Original 18 Karat Gold Plated" while a few say "Platina Finish 18 Karat Gold Plated". Some include one "U.S." disc and one Infantry disc and some contain two "U.S." discs. Based on your card with two Infantry discs, I would guess they were sold like that in the 50's when two sets of discs were worn on the uniform, one pair of "U.S." discs on the upper lapel and a pair of branch discs on the lower lapel. Thanks for your addition. Yours look a tad more "gold" than mine, which are quite silvery with a faint golden hue. I think you're probably right as to why they were sold in matching pairs. In a way that helps to date them because double discs were only worn for a relatively brief period. Sabrejet :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted February 26, 2018 Share #10 Posted February 26, 2018 This old thread clears up the mystery of this pair of silver US infantry collar insignia: The attachment is brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonT Posted March 16, 2019 Share #11 Posted March 16, 2019 I just stumbled upon this thread while doing some research on a group of collar disks I have. One of them appears to be one of these 18k gold plated "silver" disks. In fact it looks exactly like the previous one Bob posted last year, except mine is flat, not domed. At first I got excited thinking I had something, but then I realized even though they aren't that common you can still get a pair on Ebay for $12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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