donaldnol Posted January 28, 2021 Share #1 Posted January 28, 2021 just purchase this a day ago a WW2 crewmembers wings i have lots of these but i had never seen this type before well made & heavy 22 grams weight the edges are also smooth and the sterling stamp incuse with the G upside down would this be another variant or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted January 28, 2021 Share #2 Posted January 28, 2021 Classic Bell pattern. Do a search on Bell and Lampl. Will find a ton of info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thwingmarty Posted January 28, 2021 Share #3 Posted January 28, 2021 This is the classic Bell pattern, but is a unique and rare variant. I have only ever seen this sterling mark on observer wings used to make 3" aerial gunner wings. I have never even found a 3" Bell observer wing with this sterling mark that hadn't been used to make a gunner wing. Every other Bell 3" aircrew, observer and navigator wing I have seen has a raised letter sterling mark in the center of the circle. Based on these incised sterling marks, I have wondered if Bell made any wings in this classic style in coin silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldnol Posted January 28, 2021 Author Share #4 Posted January 28, 2021 37 minutes ago, pfrost said: Classic Bell pattern. Do a search on Bell and Lampl. Will find a ton of info haven't found anything on this yet, but i'm still searching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thwingmarty Posted January 28, 2021 Share #5 Posted January 28, 2021 Here are a couple of previous threads where Bell and Lampl were discussed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted January 28, 2021 Share #6 Posted January 28, 2021 The Bell wings have been a very popular item of discussion. They are very handsome wings, and seem to share a link (both in style of manufacture and hallmarks) as the Lampl wings. One of the characteristics is the "G" in Sterling. It seems to be upside down in many of the hallmarks seen on these wings (not always, but frequently). When I started collecting in the late 90's Bell wings were pretty cheap and relatively common--I would have ranked them as being common. However, a few years ago, the became REALLY popular it seems and what used to be a cheap/mid priced wing jumped to much higher value. Plus, if you the type of collector looking for variations, there are quite a few in this pattern. Including examples marked COIN SILVER (which always seem to grab a slightly higher premium than plain marked STERLING. Then there are a few rather rare ratings--I think 3 inch glider wings exist, but likely not the Service or Liaison ratings (or so I recall, but I suspect I am remembering incorrectly). No doubt they are really NICE looking wings, and a pretty good collection can be accrued with little effort and pain to the wallet. Tod Rathbone did some spectacular research on the Bell Trading Company history. It would behoove you to study some of Tod's other posts on Beverly Craft, Bell, and Moody Bros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thwingmarty Posted January 28, 2021 Share #7 Posted January 28, 2021 They have gotten so popular that JoeW is making and selling copies of at least some of them. He may have started with the observer wings to use in making his WASP copies. Patrick is correct about the 3" letter wings in this traditional pattern (only the G known to exist). All three letters can be found in the other 3" pattern, and some of those can be found in coin silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thwingmarty Posted November 3, 2021 Share #8 Posted November 3, 2021 I was able to snag one of these as well, so there are more out there to be found. I believe this one may be Rhodium plated. It is about 2 grams heavier than my Bell Aircrew wing with the raised sterling mark. I hadn't noticed before that Donaldnol's wing and this one have some of the raised specs on the feathers, like is most often found on many of the Bell Navigator wings. Now if I can just find one of the Observer wings with the incised sterling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldnol Posted November 4, 2021 Author Share #9 Posted November 4, 2021 5thwingmarty's wings looks identical to mine in all more like brothers, but mine has no trace of any rhodium plate thats very odd. glad you have found one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thwingmarty Posted November 5, 2021 Share #10 Posted November 5, 2021 I have a lot of Bell wings, and some have been more polished than others, but this is the only one that appears to have been plated. I don't even recall seeing other Bell wings that were plated so I would guess these were plated for an owner at some point. I don't know what such plating would have cost, but it doesn't seem like something an enlisted man would have typically sprung for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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