That equates to just over £11,000 in todays money,  although £1,700 back then would have bought you a new Escort or Allegro although a Sherman would be far more fun. Average new house prices was around  £12,000. So what looks like a bargain back then was in fact pretty expensive

Strip it and give it a proper burial  JMO

Two new ones for the collection yesterday.  Both all original.    

Every jacket is worth the sum total of its parts. I have no idea of the value of anything on that jacket. Frame it and sell it to a new collector. Everyone has to start some place. I have seen WW2 Heer tunics being sold in that condition to new collectors just getting started. 

To all that responded, thank you!  Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Do you know why their are so few items from the RW? Few people saved anything. The same could be said about any war at any time. When you cut a patch, button or alter anything you remove it from its place in time and history. People save CW items in worse condition because not many remain out of tens of thousands made. In an expanded time line everything will fade away. What survives is luck of the draw. The jacket speaks to its place in time.  I personally have an issue with breaking things apart for that reason. I don't do that. A question was asked and I gave my reply. Burn it if you want. I wouldn't do that. but you are not me.

I am not as versed on these as Heath, @haw68 but these appear to be master "hubs" (sometimes "hobs") which are used to make steel dies.     As to the question of could they be used to make reproducible dies?  It depends on their temper and condition.  The hobs were hardened and used to strike the appropriate image into soft steel blanks.  The dies would themselves then be hardened for use.  Steel can have strange properties and if improperly hardened may become brittle.   Could they be used?  Theoretically yes.  However, doing so might destroy them if they are not in good shape.  Hopefully Heath will see this and weigh in.   Chris

. From my Collection Shoebox . . . . . . .   Being a collector is multifaceted, either the item itself, a variation of the item, or other subtleties, however although I had several Carlisle pouches featuring the different styles materials etc of manufacture this one also appealed to me just for the peculiarities of the name of the manufacturer , so many existing companies that turned over to wartime production for the military.    Back in 1993 / 1994 I wanted to produce a book of UK manufacturers and what they produced during WWII while people who worked in these factories were still alive and could share their experiences.  However life at the time got in the way of that idea and the moment in time passed as did the people who had worked producing products for the war. One of my aunties worked making Mill grenades ( she brought an empty example home which I inherited in the later 1960's ) , another aunty worked at a factory producing the metal ' window ' strips dropped by bombers to confuse German radar, ( again I inherited a cardboard tube of these strips ).      Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, June 27  2O25.    ….              

Any anti-theft device is going to stall a determined thief for only so long. The trick is to make that stall so long they might go look for easier prey... 

. Johnny Cash song, ' one piece at a time '   Sharing a photo of my recent acquisition the Sherman wheel with Jeeping friends one friend came back writing I was buying a Sherman ' one piece at a time '   little did they know that back in 1976 I found a complete Sherman in a breakers yard for £1,200 pounds, I had the money,  no transport or storage space !!!!! and the rest is history  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .        Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, June 27  2O25.    ….