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Small and Smaller WWI era US Air Service wings


rustywings
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Some great wings there! A totally under appreciated field. If I had things to do differently, I may have started out my collecting career focusing on the smaller "sweatheart" or cap-size wings. Rarely faked, easily affordable and as well crafted and interesting as their larger brothers.

 

What is amazing is the depth and quality of US wings that Russ has put together. Well done and thanks for sharing.

 

P

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Thank you Dominique, Patrick and Marksman for your kind responses. I agree with you... So far I've not seen any fakes being made with the small ones. And for the most part they are very reasonably priced. Recently there have been a number of exceptions on ebay involving WWI cap badges with desirable hallmarks selling in the $250 to $350 range. Of course that's a small price to pay when the same hallmarked wing in full size is valued in the $1,500 to $2,000 range.

 

Here's one of my favorites. At two inches in width, it's a little larger than the previous examples. Maybe Cliff or one of our other knowledgeable members can tell me who made this detailed little WWI wing?

 

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At only 1.25 inches in width, this is my smallest WWI Pilot wing with gold 'US' letters. The back is marked STERLING.

Please note that for the most part WWI badges, including these small wings, have a slightly thicker pin than their WWII counterparts.

 

 

 

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Russ The 2 inch you posted has some similarities to the G.W. Haltom Co. Fort Worth (thanks to Bobs Site)the hand chased seems like a Homrighous out of Memphis.Several items on the 2 inch including the US and the extra curl in the shoulder don't match.However stylistically the 2 inch and Haltom seem to be made by the same hand. Fun to guess and I have no supporting info.Thanks Russ for posting more of your wonderful collection. Mike

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On 10/29/2014 at 7:19 PM, skypilot6670 said:

Russ The 2 inch you posted has some similarities to the G.W. Haltom Co. Fort Worth (thanks to Bobs Site)the hand chased seems like a Homrighous out of Memphis.Several items on the 2 inch including the US and the extra curl in the shoulder don't match.However stylistically the 2 inch and Haltom seem to be made by the same hand. Fun to guess and I have no supporting info.Thanks Russ for posting more of your wonderful collection. Mike

 

Your right Mike...there are a lot of similarities between the full size Haltom-made Pilot badge and the smaller two inch wing.

 

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Group shot of the previous three wings. For me, the modest variations from one example to the next is what makes collecting these aerial badges so interesting.

 

Please feel free to post your early variations on this thread as well...

 

Russ

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Patchcollector

That is quite the collection of Wings you have there.I enjoyed looking and reading about them.Thanks for posting.

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Thank you Patchcollector. I appreciate your comments and input.

 

Here's a wing which is similar in design to the example illustrated in frame #41, but produced from a different die. The tips of these wings don't turn upward as much as the ones above. This wing displays additional hand etching along the perimeter of the shield, but lacks quality in the star strikes. Some of the stars look like they've been double and triple tapped.

 

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The back has an incised STERLING & 10K mark. (The 10K mark is indicative of the gold content in the 'US' lettering.)

 

 

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A third example which seems to combine the characteristics of the two other wings. This one has both upswept wing tips and additional etching details in the shield.

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RUSS, LOVE THOSE SMALL WINGS. VERY NICE EXAMPLES

 

Thank you my friend...

 

The back of the third example is marked "STERLING - WING."

 

 

 

 

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Here's a comparison shot of the three Robbins-style wings listed above. Lots of small differences in the details and the lettering.

 

 

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