Description: Early Great Seal Distinctive Insignia. One of one known to exist - sterling. 1 1/4"H x 1 1/8"W. This was dug metal detecting in western Massachusetts over the summer. At first thought it was a hat badge... it is not. It is much smaller. This exact design, and size was used by officers as collar insignia from 1903 to 1905... but the attachments are different, and they were gold plated, and were not stamped on the reverse. I have been to the library and into the US encyclopedia of insignia and uniforms. Impossible to go thru the whole book, but I found a lot of similar insignias, but none of them match. The consensus I recieved, and also already believed is this is a "presentation grade" insignia. Now here is the rub... for who, and ordered from who? I had two different conversations with various galleries that have stuck with me. I had one historian tell me this the type of jewelry that would have been worm by a general. Another put forth the proposition that it was gift to Black Jack Pershing (one of only two six star generals) by the maker as a promotional piece.... he wouldn't have said that, but the ideas is Black Jack would have ordered these for his officers. ( WHO MADE BLACK JACKS COLLAR INSIGNIAS?) Now one of my theories is this may have been a gift from Pershing to his staff. I just don't know! Anyone who can provide provenance on this piece will definitely be able to discuss a realistic price... in the meantime... I am not going to let this go for a couple of hundred bucks ... not knowing....Could it be an early adjutant Generals insignia? I have research that says they used this design all the way back to 1892. Another point to be made is this is the most finely detailed great seal insignia of this size I have seen anywhere, made by anyone! You can find various examples of HH CHANDLER AND SON on Ebay, ETSY etc. But none of those piece even begin to match the detail of this insignia... keep in mind it is only 1 1/4"H I CHALLENGE VIEWERS TO FIND A MORE FINELY DETAILED GREAT SEAL INSIGNIA. HH CHANDLER WAS KNOWN FOR THEIR HIGH GRADE SWEET HEART PINS, AND ALSO DID MAKE INSIGNIA FOR THE MILITARY. damn this sucks.... not knowing the story. for someone who likes to hunt this type of historical mystery.... this could be a great find. I just dont have the time at the moment I much more interested in spending my time finding more pieces like this!
Price: 500 USD
Location: North Adams, Massachusetts
End Time: 2024-08-19T15:16:18.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Composition: Silver
Certification: Uncertified
