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Recent Posts
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By cwnorma · Posted
Skyler, This is a set of WW1 era sweetheart or overseas cap-sized American made bullion wings. I see no immediate red flags. The main "tell" is in the "faceted" bullion. Prior to the German invasion in WW2, almost all of the world's bullion raw material was manufactured in a few factories in Lyons France. The machines to make faceted bullion (a trade secret jealously guarded) were destroyed during the invasion. With the Lyons' near monopoly on manufacturing bullion material broken, American and other European manufacturers quickly got into the game. The best way to discern pre-WW2 bullion is to look at it closely under a strong magnifying glass: Look at pre-WW2 faceted bullion and it often resembles a "round file". Later faceted bullion looks more like a jumbled up series of wire triangles under magnification. The findings (pin and catch) are also consistent with WW1 era wings. The drop-in safety catch is one of the two types most often encountered. It is possible the pin has been replaced as the hinge is somewhat bent. It is impossible to say if this repair was done in 1918 or 2018. The bullion front seems to be toning nicely with the left wing tip the most obvious. This gradual toning is hard to fake in a convincing way. Reproductions tend to look more mottled and uneven (if made from recycled bullion) or as @pfrost describes it, "patina in a can" when chemical patinas have been applied. Your sweetheart wing appears to have been made by the same manufacturer as this series of full-sized wings: And, here is full sized variant and similar sweetheart sized wing by this maker side-by-side: It is noteworthy that all WW1 era bullion wings were hand-made. Consequently, no two can be exactly alike. However, close inspection of your wing and the sweetheart wing above will show many consistencies. So much so that I am confident they are from the same (as yet unknown) maker. Warm regards Chris -
By Neil Henson · Posted
Get original military dog tags at www.dogtgUS.com -
By eagle mtn · Posted
WOW. I know they existed, but I’m happy to see this. Makes you wonder how many are still around -
By everythingmiliary · Posted
Bumping this beautiful piece! Even if nobody knows where it is, people should still take a look -
By zzyzzogeton · Posted
Not a Western of any pattern/model. Blade is too narrow for a 71, Western never had a screw-on pommel where the nut appears integral to the pommel. All their screw-on pommel construction models were pre-WW2, none after. Most cutlers dropped screw-on pommel construction during the war and never restarted using it after the war was over. I say most because someone may have kept it up and I'm unaware of them doing so. -
By yellowhammer history · Posted
I seem to remember seeing a ocp or multicam acu with a navy rank on it at a trift store a few years ago. I thought it was odd but didn't pay much attention to it. -
By Teamski · Posted
It was $1,550 which sounds expensive but as a group, it is a pretty good price. If it was an infantry grouping I wouldn't have flinched. I did and lost out. -Ski -
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By US82Bravo · Posted
Based on Kurt's suggestion and cross checking USN Muster Rolls, this may be the jumper's owner - B*I*R*C*H*, Thomas W Service number 201 79 70 *** He was born in Massachusetts and died in Rhode Island. From an on-line obit - 'A graduate of Chelsea High School, Tom served with the 1147th Company with the CCCs in Warner, NH and in the Pacific theatre during WWII. As a naval medical corpsman attached to the second marine division, he was at Saipan and the invasion of Okinawa. Later he trained as a pilot until the wars end. He and his late wife, Audrey Peacock Birch raised their family in Damascus, MD. He retired from the Navy as Chief Warrant Officer and moved to Saunderstown in 1976.' Hope this helps your research. Larry -
By ccyooper · Posted
No BA-42 batteries are C cell batteries. I’m not sure if appropriate in WwII but AA batteries are BA-3058. Regards
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