WWII Navy Officer Shoulderboard with Metal Specialty insignia

[DocCollector1441]

Hey all, I recently picked up a couple of Navy medical officer's shoulder boards in a grouping I purchased of an Iwo Jima veteran. I was wondering if anyone has ever seen these with the metal specialty marks. I have only ever seen the bullion version. Any idea as to when these were produced or how common they were?

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Take a look under the pin and see if the Line Officer star has been removed. When the appropriate branch shoulder boards (Supply, Medical, Dental, etc) were not available, sometimes the stars were removed and replaced with the pin to properly identify the officers branch.

[Justin B.]

Those are less common than the embroidered, though I don't think really rare enough to command much of a premium price. They definitely seem to be a WW2 "economy" variation, and can be found in all corps and line. The metal devices are different from the collar pins because they are about 50% larger. I've never seen the back of the metal piece so I don't know how they attached. Thanks for posting,

 

Justin B.

[KurtA]

These metal devices were made specifically for shoulder boards. I believe they have prongs on the reverse. These style boards were also made with metal line officer stars. I've only seen medical and line officer in metal. Haven't seen any other branches, but I'm sure they exist.

[DocCollector1441]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will check the board to see if I can see any pins or see if I can see the remnants of a line officer star.

[cbuehler]

Yes, these metal devices were made during WW2 as an alternative to embroidered devices for shoulder marks. I have seen them for Line, Medical, Dental and Supply. They were not made to replace anything, just a variant; nor were the devices supplied separately for use to change branches on shoulder marks.

These shoulder marks are considerably less common than embroidered, but do not seem to command any greater value.

 

CB

[Justin B.]

I have also seen Civil Engineer, Machinist, Electrician, and Radio Electrician in a collection.