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WWII & Pre-WWII Submarine Dolphins


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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Jimbo,

I would put this in the 1970's time frame based on not being 1/20 GF on sterling. Anyone else have any opinions about it?

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  • 4 years later...

Adding my recently acquired late 30s to WW2 era mess dress officers dolphins many thanks to Josh B for identifying them for me.

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  • 1 month later...
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Zaxx….that Sheridan badge is really nice!  The Aussie badges are getting so dang expensive.  I know they are scarce and everyone wants a Sheridan (Perth) and a Wallace Bishop (Brisbane) in their collection, but every variety I’ve seen lately for sale is $$$$.

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  • 7 months later...

Hello,

 

I’ve picked up this small dolphin badge and would like to submit it to the community for your verdict as to whether it is WW2 vintage.

 

It’s a little over 1 and a half inches and has a raised Sterling mark. Some of the gilding has worn off the high points. 
 

The pin and fixings seem to chime with period manufacture but I have no idea about this type of insignia.

 

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  • 2 months later...

Picked up this nice Gemsco dolphin badge, which I’m assuming is WW2 vintage. While it is clutch back rather than the usual pin back the clutch pins are the short, straight variety,  soldered, not the longer nail-head versions of typical post-war period. Is my assumption correct?

 

 

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On 5/10/2023 at 12:39 PM, Kropotkin said:

Hello,

 

I’ve picked up this small dolphin badge and would like to submit it to the community for your verdict as to whether it is WW2 vintage.

 

It’s a little over 1 and a half inches and has a raised Sterling mark. Some of the gilding has worn off the high points. 
 

The pin and fixings seem to chime with period manufacture but I have no idea about this type of insignia.

 

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No problem considering this WWII era.  These are sometimes also marked “Nanco”, but the latter was more a retailer than a manufacturer.  An example of the same pattern sold online a few months back , mounted on an Officers Equipment card stock, again bolstering the idea that these may have been produced for sale by a variety of retailers.  They show up on the market quite frequently (Nanco marked less frequently).

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On 7/12/2023 at 5:10 AM, Kropotkin said:

Picked up this nice Gemsco dolphin badge, which I’m assuming is WW2 vintage. While it is clutch back rather than the usual pin back the clutch pins are the short, straight variety,  soldered, not the longer nail-head versions of typical post-war period. Is my assumption correct?

 

 

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Hard to say.  As mentioned in this thread and in Jones’s book, the only documented WWII clutch-back dolphins are Meyer… the operative word being documented.  I’ve been looking several years for a dated photo showing this particular style of Gemsco dolphins in wear during WWII. I’ve never seen a memorable example, but no problem finding them in use a few years later (ie Korean War).  On the other hand, H-H deep wave dolphins are very common in WWII photographs. I don’t know exactly when Gemsco ramped up production of this particular style, and the company marketed other styles of submarine insignia during the period too.

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Thanks for your responses Josh. Very informative and interesting, especially about the Gemsco dolphins. Collecting WW2 era USAAF wings, the collective wisdom suggests the short, straight clutch pins point towards WW2 vintage, however these conventions are never absolute or final and I imagine the application of this type of clutch pin would have still been the case after August 1945.
 

Interestingly, you can see on the reverse of the badge two flat areas where the pin hinge and catch would have been soldered, so this badge was originally struck to be a pinback. 

 

Whatever its age, it is a really handsome badge.

 

Thanks again! 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a 2 3/4" Sterling solid back with pin and small Burgess catch with "SS 224" stamped on the reverse. Very good condition. Has to be at least 1943-1962 usage. I'll post some photos tomorrow.

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12 hours ago, dpcsdan said:

I have a 2-3/4" Sterling, solid back, with pin and small Burgess catch and "SS 224" stamped on the reverse. Very good condition. USS Cod, has to be at least 1943-1962 usage, as she had her designation changed in 1962. She's still alive, ported at Cleveland, Ohio, as a museum.

 

Officer Dolphin-2.jpg

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Officer Dolphin-2r2.jpg

Officer Dolphin-3.jpg

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Sorry Dan; I’ve been on the road but yes a large number of the cast Meyer pattern dolphins stamped on the reverse have shown up over the years.

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