OSS DI or Collar Insignia - Real or a Fake ?

[sfcollector]

Is this Office of Strategic Services DI (or perhaps it is a collar insignia) real or a reproduction ?

 

Thank you for your help.

 

 

[vintageproductions]

Isn't this on Ebay right now and being sold by the editor of the ASMIC Trading Post?

[Tonomachi]

I have collected these collar pins and although not an expert I can give you information on what I have come across over the years. My understanding of these insignia was that it was only worn by members of the Psychological Warfare Branch of the OSS. They were not DIs but branch of service collar insignia. There are some photographs that exist of members of the PWB wearing the collar insignia. However you can only make out clearly the exact shape of the collar piece in one of the close ups of Saul Padover. Unfortunately you cannot see the back of the collar piece which is why you see so many variations (fakes) of this insignia. The collar piece in the mentioned photograph of Saul Padover is not the one you have posted but another where reproductions abound. I thought I had found an original hallmarked (Robbins Inc. Attleboro) screw back piece for my collection only to find out much later that these were part of a grouping of restrikes that were supposedly commissioned in the 1950s by a group of ASMIC collectors. Again I could be wrong but the original is not hallmarked and is actually clutch back.

 

The collar piece that you have posted I have one in my collection. To my knowledge there isn't a close up photograph of anyone in the PWB wearing this style collar piece. Of course that doesn't mean that original variations didn't exist. I didn't know and am still not 100% sure if these were original until I came across a pair that were sort of clutch back at an insignia show. The seller whom I had purchased things from in the past had obtained a moderate sized collection of German manufactured US DIs. He told me that all of the DIs were of post war German manufacture. There were two of these PWB collar pieces amongst this grouping of German made US DIs. The seller didn't know for sure which unit these, what he thought were DIs, represented but offered the pair to me for 40 dollars. I bought them immediately. The clutch back pins are a little strange as instead of being pointed at the tip they were cut at an angle to make the point. So I am hopeful that these were made for members of the PWB at the end of WW2 before the OSS was disbanded. I have seen one other variation which had a vertical pin back of the style you find on US manufactured insignia. The PWB also had a bullion version of these collar pieces manufactured and are very rare. There is also a very good copy of the bullion collar piece floating around so you have got to be careful.

[tredhed2]

A) the restrikes were made by the Robbins Co and have their HM

 

if I could take the thin flat washer off, I could remove the screwpost and spearhead - they would be one piece, with the oval painted shield being another piece, like many multi-piece BOS insignia. But am not going to risk damaging the device. Unless they have the original die to begin with, no faker is going to take the time to fake a multi-piece metal insignia as it is too much work.

 

C) thanks for asking and for your interest. Good luck on your bid.

[sfcollector]

Thank you for the education and guidance !