fallschirmjager Posted January 25, 2011 Share #1 Posted January 25, 2011 Picked up this Zippo for £18. Looking at the Zippo sites it seems to date about 1955/1956. This engraving has been quoted as found on these lighters apparently! Any opinions on authenticity and possible unit! I think Kontum is mis-spelt! Apologies for the poor pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfireguy Posted January 25, 2011 Share #2 Posted January 25, 2011 That bottom does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I'm pretty sure for that date range the bottom should look like this. I really don't like the fact that "Bradford" is canted the way it is. I would like to see photos of the inside if possible including the bottom where the fill hole is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay V Posted January 25, 2011 Share #3 Posted January 25, 2011 Dear Sir Try Zippos official web site ,maybe they will have the answers you need,Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack_Frost Posted January 28, 2011 Share #4 Posted January 28, 2011 Dear SirTry Zippos official web site ,maybe they will have the answers you need,Jay Who wants to break the news?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PvtTamura Posted January 28, 2011 Share #5 Posted January 28, 2011 Looking through my little Zippo book, I'd say its a fake. My 1958 dated USMC Zippo for comparison. The flash is a little strong, but oldfireguy has a photo of the bottom of a Zippo with the same date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 28, 2011 Share #6 Posted January 28, 2011 Pretty sure this is a novelty lighter that you can find in shops in Vietnam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintageproductions Posted January 28, 2011 Share #7 Posted January 28, 2011 without a shadow of a doubt a fake piece made for the tourist trade in Vietnam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted January 28, 2011 Share #8 Posted January 28, 2011 without a shadow of a doubt a fake piece made for the tourist trade in Vietnam That's what I thought, recently a seller in the US had a TON of these lighters, he was getting over $100 a pop for a lot of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfireguy Posted January 28, 2011 Share #9 Posted January 28, 2011 You can find them on ebay by the thousands and they all look the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niner Alpha Posted January 28, 2011 Share #10 Posted January 28, 2011 If I can attach a couple of photos I'll add images of a lighter I bought and carried in Vietnam in 1970. I think you will find with personal lighters carried by men in Vietnam that most of them will be engraved. Vietnamese shops did this as a regular thing. Guys would want their unit designation and usually initials of the owner. The lighter was about the only personal equipment a guy in the field had in a day when just about everybody smoked. He also took it with him if he went from one unit to another when he was given a change in assignment during Nixon's reduction of new forces being sent to Vietnam. It was a case of the 1st Division went home but the troops went to the 1st Cav, the 9th and the 101st. In my case the last Brigade of the 9th went home and I spent my last three months with the 101st. Note the engraving of the 9th information doesn't match the engraving for the 101st. That's because the 101st information was added at a later date in another Vietnamese shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niner Alpha Posted January 28, 2011 Share #11 Posted January 28, 2011 Couldn't attach this to the above post. The dates were added later, after the information on the lid. The engraving is slightly larger and goes slightly deeper on the addition of dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niner Alpha Posted January 28, 2011 Share #12 Posted January 28, 2011 One more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack_Frost Posted January 28, 2011 Share #13 Posted January 28, 2011 One more. Hi, 9 Alpha, Thankyou for sharing your cherished in-country engraved Zippo with us! can you remember what type of shop it was that engraved it??Bar, club, Barber, Camera shop, ect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktide Posted January 29, 2011 Share #14 Posted January 29, 2011 I saw loads of those lighters when I was in Saigon last October... They were being sold for 40-70 Dong, depending on which store was selling them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niner Alpha Posted January 29, 2011 Share #15 Posted January 29, 2011 I saw loads of those lighters when I was in Saigon last October... They were being sold for 40-70 Dong, depending on which store was selling them. Do you think they were like the bogus dog tags? I'd bet they were. Jack_Frost.... I can't remember exactly where I got that lighter but it was about January of 1970 in the upper Mekong Delta. But i'm pretty sure it was in a PX at Tan An. I think the first engraving might have been at one of those Vietnanese run shops on big base camps that sold sundry stuff to GI's. But....can't remember exactly. The second time it was at one of those kind of shops at Phu Bai...I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktide Posted January 29, 2011 Share #16 Posted January 29, 2011 Yes, probably bogus. There were soooo many. They were being sold for 70 Dong at the War Remnants Museum and 40 Dong (average) everywhere else, with different insignias and engravings. ARVN Ranger helmets as well... I saw several at the Dan Sinh Market being sold for USD 50.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack_Frost Posted January 30, 2011 Share #17 Posted January 30, 2011 Hi 9 Alpha, Thankyou for the info, the blank space on your Zippo, did you have in mind to get it engraved in Vietnam?, maybe you didn't get around to it, or perhaps felt nothing more needed to be added! Whatever the story please share. Regards JF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niner Alpha Posted January 31, 2011 Share #18 Posted January 31, 2011 Jack_Frost, I didn't need to add anything else. My next stop after the 101st was home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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