Moseley wings on ebay

[historylives]

to those into wings saw this on ebay. appears to have been "cleaned up" removing gold gilt finish. a noble hallmark rear? looks to have Hercules findings. doesn't look good without that golden finish.

[ram957]

Item # ?
 

[historylives]

sorry----------         #187934800417

[cwnorma]

Since a few members here track the Moseley wings, I thought the auction photos would be a good addition to the thread:

 

[pfrost]

Without better pictures it’s hard to know. Looks like a casting made to fool collectors 

 

I'm not 100% sure but these presentation wings don’t seem to have been worn day to day (if at all). I haven’t seen any pictures of Cal Aero civilian instructors wearing these gilded wings in any case 

 

So how to explain the wear?  Frankly these give me heartburn if definitely want to see better photos

 

 

[historylives]

right you are Mr. Frost. i questioned these wings when i fist saw them. they have all the bells and whistles of the real deal--------- the findings (which they are referred to) heavy pin and drop in roller lock also sterling with the Nobel hallmark (remember reading from a thread that Noble was a maker of these. it was the finish in gold--- these were a gift and i doubt they were worn but the ebay wings look like they were butchered. 

[pfrost]

I mean it could be fine but the picture is horrible. 

[Threewood]

It looks like someone cleaned the gilt off the front and a portion of the back. That is not normal wear. Someone ruined them.

[Bull Moose]

I know the Moseley were made by Noble, but I don’t recall seeing any other Moseley wings with the Noble hallmark.

Has anyone seen others that are hallmarked?

 

The hallmark also seems to be in an odd location for a Noble marked pilot wing. 

[cwnorma]

Looking at the findings, engraving, and edges, I am going to go out on a limb and say that to my eye they don't look cast.  Instead, what they look like to me is  a "dug" piece that stayed in the ground for some time, got very badly corroded, and have recently been "cleaned" and polished.

 

Condition is an important factor in wing collecting and these are near the point where they will be a difficult sell.

 

Still, for those that track the Moseley wings, here is another to add to the listing.

 

Warm regards

 

Chris

[pfrost]

I’ll add them to my list but I cannot see the engraved name

 

there is a good thread on the Moseley wings that I posted some time ago

[pfrost]

 

[bschwartz]

11 hours ago, pfrost said:

I’ll add them to my list but I cannot see the engraved name

 

 

 

All I can make out is Herbert E and then the last name starts with an H and ends with an H. Looks like it possibly ends in a GH but not sure. Don't know if there is a master list of pilots that flew for Mosely that could be compared against. Tried playing around with contrast and things with the image but couldn't get more of the last name.

[rathbonemuseum.com]

has anyone asked the seller what the name is?

[Bull Moose]

I asked yesterday.

 

Confirmed C.C. Moseley on right, no reply on what name is on the left side. 
 

I asked again this morning, so far no reply.

 

[Bull Moose]

Info from the seller.

 

HERBERT E. BOWDICH From C.C.Moseley 3-16-43. from the estate collection of a New Mexico family. EARL BOWDICH served in France 1918

 

 

[Dave]

Zooming in on these...I love the engraving, personally...I wonder if they were worn as regular AAF pilot wings? It looks like there's still a reasonable amount of gilt on the reverse - but the entire front has been cleaned off. 

 

 

[historylives]

and it is a NOBEL hallmark wing. it is just the finish that hurts.

 

[pfrost]

Without better pictures it’s hard to know. But it appears that the die flaw on the back of the shield seem over pronounced compared to other examples, and to my knowledge none of the other Nobel wings are hallmarked at all.

 

the date on the wing corresponds to the upper date range of other hollow back Nobel wings. They seemed to range from 1940-mid 1943. By late 1943 early 1944 Cal Aero had started closing schools (reviewed in linked thread above).  I still don’t know what the wings were presented for, that seems to be a mystery.

If the seller has better pictures it’s would be nice to see them

 

 

 

[pfrost]

Currently, my Moseley presentation wing database lists 41 examples, including this one.

[pfrost]

I see that the wing sold for a pretty good price considering the damage

 

But I do expect that you could get it re-gilded

 

 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Sold for $925