FSS marked Navy Aviator?

[Costa]

never seen this before. any body know what or who the maker is??? early drop in catch, strange!

[Costa]

front----------

[Patchcollector]

A Jeweler made piece?It has a "cast" look to it to me.

[pfrost]

The FSS marked wings have shown up recently. Not sure these are cast. But I am also not sure the FSS hallmark isn't a fantasy. It's interesting thogh

[LuftStalg1]

Yea, I feel confident it is a cast piece. Having said that small Jewelers do cast some of there products.

[Costa]

so it is possible it could be a good wing??

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Never seen this before.

[Bob Hudson]

We have another thread about these from 2016:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/269252-unusual-hallmark-on-wwii-naval-aviator-wings-fss/

 

[Bob Hudson]

This one sold on ebay in 2007:

 

[pfrost]

I looked at the pictures on the original auction and I think what appears to be casting marks on the front could be explained by blank spots or wear of the patina/gold plating. There is nothing on the back that makes me think it is a casting, but of course better photos would help.

 

My sense is that this is either a very rare hallmark or a fantasy hallmark. This is more than likely a WWII vintage wing. So, it could have been a small uniform store that had its logo placed on some of the wings it was selling. Or it could have been something that someone thought up in his basement to try to goose the prices on run of the mill USN wing. More research needs to be done, I think.

 

P

[Costa]

has any one ever tested one of these to see if it was really a sterling silver wing. I don't see a reproer using good real materials to make a bargain basement bastard. I mean even the drop on catch--------

[Steve Brannan]

This wing is mine on eBay. Same wing I posted for comments in 2016. It doesnt look cast under 10x exam.

[Bob Hudson]

This wing is mine on eBay. Same wing I posted for comments in 2016. It doesnt look cast under 10x exam.

 

I didn't even look at names on the earlier thread ....

 

So there is just the one we know of - yours?

[5thwingmarty]

Is the FSS engraved or stamped? This looks like a monogram of someone's initials to me.

[B-17Guy]

I researched this hallmark a while ago, but ran into a dead end.

I have seen others, perfectly good wing.

Here is one that Dan Griffin has had listed for a while.

 

John

 

http://griffinmilitaria.com/cgi-bin/imcart/display.cgi?item_id=12926&cat=37&page=2&search=&since=0&status=&title=

 

[Costa]

I have seen the wing on Dans site, the same as mine. it doesn't look cast to me. the back doesn't show the grooves and bubbles or rough surface of cast wings.

[Costa]

the wing I have is a die struck wing. I don't think a bargain basement maker of junk can die strike a wing.

[Pryo]

Ran into one of these as well

[cwnorma]

Interesting!

 

From the front, this one seems to have quite smooth details.  Almost as thought it was made from a worn out die?  The back clearly shows it to be a die-struck badge.

 

In the photo of the rear it appears there is a ball of material in the middle of the anchor ring.  What is that all about?

 

Curiouser and curiouser!

 

Chris

[pfrost]

I have always thought that if these were either fantasy hallmarks on a run of the mill USN Aviator wing or something like "Fleet Ship Services" that was added to a run of the mill wing -- maybe from a small uniform shop or base Navy Exchange.  Its not uncommon for a retail outfit to get merchandise from a wholesaler and then put their own name on the unit (think Luxenberg). 

 

The wing is nothing special other than the hallmark, its just like the millions of other WWII -KW- VN era USN aviator wings. 

 

It seems pretty unlikely to me that even with the FSS hallmark it would actually garner more than about 100$ (crazy gun show retail prices).

 

Seriously good luck selling a solid hallmarked AMICO or LGB pilot wing for more than 75$ in this market.  I know some collectors gotta have one of everything, but if a small stamped FSS kicks the prices out of the stadium, I would be gob smacked. 

 

So, all in all, I suspect it is just one of those pieces where someone put their own company name on some insignia that they were selling.

 

 

[B-17Guy]

Here is mine, got it in a trade a few years ago. I've always considered it WWII to KW time frame. 

John