Militaria Collector's Corner

[robin@ebay.com]

Hello and welcome to the Militaria Collector's Corner!

This is a special thread dedicated to all who love collecting Militaria and would appreciate chatting with others who share this interest! We hope this dedicated little corner will give you a way to more easily meet others in the community that share your interests.

Come in and make yourself at home! Tell us about your Militaria collections, your first piece, your favorite item, your favorite eBay find, share the histories behind your items--share share share!

A picture is always an enjoyable way to share with others, so feel free to use them here. If you need them, instructions for adding images to your posts are available from a thread at the top of this board.

Enjoy! ;0)

Robin
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[greenpropps]

Hello, Cannot identify this mens' silver bracelet. This particular piece came from the estate of it's original owner and I'm trying to determine whether or not it is from the military. The crest on the front has the letters D of P with two tomahawks, or hatchets, above on either side. No other markings are present. This insignia has been very difficult to research. Could use some help from a knowledgeable collector of militaria. If anyone has ever seen one, I would be grateful for any info as to its origin. Thank you in advance for your time. (I'm hoping this posts correctly - it's my first time.)

[curlytt7]

I am trying to find out some info about an Item that sold on EBay 2 1/2 yrs ago. it was a ww2 "trafficaire" bike pump type alarm horn, signal. By Faraday Electric Corp. for the u.s. signal corp,army. I have only heard of one other place that has one and it is the signal corp museum.
I do not have a pic of it, but want to find out what it sold for on ebay. so if anyone has any info please mail me.

[lr67shelby]

marlinspike
Ihave a us navy marlinspike marked Staatsburg, can anyone tell me a bout it. Thanks

[missions-fund]

Hi. I'm new to this area, having never had a great interest in Miltaria before. But I have recently moved to Virginia and am surrounded by all kinds of military, and also near to Civil War & Revolutionary War sites as well as the shipbuilding yard. So I find myself coming across interesting artefacts and getting into it a bit, and slowly feeling my way round selling in this area.

I did think Militaria would have its own discussion board but as it hasn't, hope no-one minds me bringing my questions here!

[deradler1]

niceandspicy999-

This is the place to discuss militaria and to ask questions. There are several very knowledgeable members that frequently post on this board. Also if you have a specific question or item, feel free to start your own thread, it makes it easier to track the responses.

deradler1

[lucitebox]

Hi there.
I deal in vintage clothing and was directed to this board by my pals on the vintage clothing & accessories board.

Without knowing what I was doing (a dangerous thing most of the time), I decided to purchase these jackets to sel. I really don't know the first thing about them besides that the US Army jacket may have belonged to a specialist. My friend at retrorags said that she thinks the rank would be E-5 with the one stripe above the specialist rank patch. (Help...I don't know what any of this means!)

What can you tell me about army jacket?


Each sleeve has a patch as shown on the left while the other sleeve has that and a Hell on Wheels patch (the clincher for me to want to buy this!)




How do I title the Army jacket?

This one's a little bit unusual, I hope. It's Russian. That's all I know. I bought it because I like the little metal tanks that decorate the collar.
Can you give me any further information on this jacket?








I plan to list them on eBay and while I'll be happy to research how to price them, I can't do that until I know what they are.

If you've got any advice you'd care to share, I'd very much appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

[lucitebox]

Erm...also would it be easier for me to start my own thread?

How do I do that?

Hopeless, I remain...
lucitebox

[blackbeardstreasurechest]

Hi, I recently aquired a medal that I dont know too much about. I am pretty sure it is German. On the front is the word " URDOCCH" spelled out along the bottom portion in gothic letters. Above this is a skull and cross bones like that of the WWII German SS insignia. On the back is a shield with a cross and the date 1919. There is a black and white ribbon. The medal is about the size of a half dollar. I think it is some kind of veterans medal. Does anyone know exactly what it is called? Thanks!

[deradler1]

usaafb17-You would be better off posting a photo. It could be a German Freikorps medal from between the wars...

deradler1

[anneinelgin]

I have some German WWII cloth insignia that my dad brought home with him from the war. He doesn't really know what they are? I tried to post this for auction, but it was rejected because of Ebay's rules on Nazi items. I don't want to sell these to some hate group, but I'm sure a genuine collector might be interested. Does anyone know what these are, what they're worth and where I might be able to post them safely and inoffensively? Thanks. I'm new to all this.

[i.gather.so]

anneinelgin~~

You have discovered one of the sad "facts of life" with selling on ebay.

Even though the "hate group" types that you mention are more likely just as happy with modern representations of the items you mention a misguided (or coerced) decision was made to censure the trade of them here.

For the most part and without knowing exactly what exactly you have the value of most cloth insignia isn't that high but it is continuing to rise. Unless there is something particularly rare it is unlikely that what you realize for these will affect your life to any extent. This is just a generalization so don't just sell them without getting an accurate assessment of the particular value.

For the time being the first and most important thing that you can do is to establish what is called "provenance" on these items. If you could get your father to put down on paper the particulars of his coming into possession of them, mentioning each item specifically, it will be invaluable.

You can post pics of them here without violating any policy and will get identification of them for your reference. With this information you will be able to over a period of time find comparables to establish value here on ebay (the ones that luck through) or by doing search engine searches.

Do apologize to your father that the very things that he was led to believe that he was fighting for.........

[mo.par]

Hello:

I hope that this is right place to ask this question. I have been going through a few things of my Dad's (deceased) who was in the US Navy during WWII and I would like to identify an item that looks like either a lighter or a light. It looks like a part is missing on the end but I am not sure what. Does any one here know?

http://briceroad.com/ebay/usnlite.jpg

Thanks
mo.par

[shardsofhistory]

I'm going to be listing an autographed Civil War era carte de visite photograph of Richard Smith Lawrence, better known as "R.S. Lawrence" to gun buffs from his patent notice inscriptions on gunsights and such.

He was an important firearms inventor, usually associated with the legendary CW era Sharps rifles. His significance actually goes beyond gunsmithing, because he was responsible for the first practical achievement of interchangeability of parts in any commercial product.

Ordinarily, I list historical CDVs in the CDV section of eBay, with a second listing in an area that is related to the subject, but there really isn't a gun or firearms section on eBay for obvious reasons.

I could put the second listing in one of the Militaria sections such as "Other CW Items" or "Original Period Items" but then I thought that maybe "Edged Weapons" might be better because at least those guys are definitely interested in weaponry.

Any thoughts here would be appreciated. I know that many folks just do general word searches and that using keywords is really the most important thing, but which section would gun buffs look into for items related to their specialty?

[kbooks1]

Can anyone help me ID two WWI signal flags I picked up at an estate auction of a woman who lived to be 102? Her last name was Melton and she was from Atwood, Indiana. They were in a box that I thought ID'd them but upon getting them home found there wasn't enough info. From other material I saw at the sale, these were from a Pvt. Melton from Pershing's signal corps. All box has written on it is "Signal flags Pony had in war I things he brought his mother". Have tried Google search but been unable to confirm info. Flags have minor tears and what looks like some spots of blood on them. I want to list these but would like to present confirmed info in listing.

[reidsantiques]

I need your help in authenticating a brass ship's bell on one side in an oval like rectangle is PS Graf-Spee on the other side is a circle with a bird or eagle and around is a border of flowers etc. It has a very loud ring. it is approx 7in high and 7 1/2in across. I need to know if it is an original bell from the ship or a comemorative piece. I would appreciate any info.
Thank You