WW2 Bell Trading Post Jump Wings

[RANDALL 1953]

Having a set of original WW2 Bell Trading post jump wings I compared the Sterling mark on the back of mine to some that recently closed on auction. While mine has a crisp marking with straight letters (Photo) I noticed that the auctioned wings letter S seemed squashed at the top of the letter While these wings may be 100% genuine and the letter S due to wear I was wondering if anyone knew of this maker being faked. I also noticed another one a while ago with the letter E in Sterling sort of cockeyed as well. I think Bell is a somewhat scarce maker of the jump wings which leads me to wonder if they are being reproduced.

[pfrost]

It looks kind of funky. On the back, especially the right side, it looks like some grinding was done to the wing. It almost looks like some took the more common 50's era wing with the G-1 hallmark (IIRC), ground it off, then had the wing replated with some sort of silver paint or lacquer and then scratched it up a couple of places. Nothing seems to fit the wear and tear of a WWII vintage wing, IMHO.

 

Here is a nice bunch of hallmarks (including the Bell wing from WWII and post WWII). http://www.wartimecollectables.com/zhallmarks.htm

 

Still, it is always hard to know for sure with a picture. It could be legit.

 

Patrick

[Allan H.]

I believe that the wing is a legitimate Bell Trading Post manufactured wing. That being said, the buffed appearance next to the hallmark makes me think that this was onced marked with a letter number manufacturer's code and has been buffed down in an effort to sell the wing off as an original WWII piece.

I have no issues with the raised sterling mark- it's real, even with the oddities to the lettering.

While the overall finish has a painted appearance to it, I think it has just been cleaned to the point that the buffing next to the hallmark are camouflaged.

The other scratches on the wing look like they were done yesterday. It is possible that they look like this due to being dipped in muriatic acid, or they were scratched yesterday.

My two cents,

Allan

[pconrad02]

Randall,

 

I have noticed more of these cropping up on Ebay in the last few months, also a large number of Robbins flying "R" . I makes me wonder NCS (?) out of Chicago has these dies too.

[RANDALL 1953]

Thanks for your opinions, I appreciate it. Enclosed is a photo of the front of the wing. Also is a closeup of the back. I believe that the buffed part is to the right where the clasp is attached and this was done to aid in the soldering or welding of the clasp hinge to the badge. There is also a buffed part that you cannot see in the photos on the left just like the right. The center where the Sterling and Hallmark looks untouched and I cannot see any evidence of grinding next to the hallmark looking at it with a loupe.

[HOLZI]

Here's a pic of the hallmarks on the BTP wing on my 507th uniform