Collecting Military Insignia: Advice for the Beginner

Military Insignia Collecting has probably been around since the advent of Insignia. While it's public popularity waxes and wanes through the years, there is always at least a small group of collectors acquiring, studying, selling, and sometimes writing about it. Since the 1980's it has become big business. Not as big as say, sports card collecting, but a few of the elite of the hobby make pretty decent livings either buying and selling, or writing books about various subjects within the hobby.

The reasons for collecting Insignia are as varied as snowflakes. Some do it because it makes them feel they have a connection to events larger than themselves, others do it as a way to honor or remember those brave men and women who wore the uniforms of their countries. I've always felt the reason why someone collects are their own, and more than likely, as in my case, hard to actually verbalize to others.

Before I start dispensing sage advice that more than likely will be ignored by many beginning and novice collectors, a little about myself.

30 some years ago I started collecting pretty much anything "Military". Patches, uniform bits, equipment, it didn't matter; I just dug collecting the stuff. Within fairly short order I narrowed my collecting down to anything "Airborne", then again down to Parachute Qualification Badges, or "Jump Wings" as they're more well known. For the last 20+ years I have been almost exclusively a "Jump Wing Collector". I have studied extensively not only on the badges themselves, but the history surrounding them. Who wore what when and what were they doing. That was my thing.

So, if you wish to save yourself money and heartache, I have some advice for you. If you have plenty of money to waste, and know more than everyone around you, you can ignore what I'm passing on for free. Either way, good luck with your collections.

Specialize

First piece of advice: Decide what you wish to collect, and collect "it". "It" may be as narrow as 1871 Iron Crosses, or as varied as US Army shoulder patches, but "it" is, for the most part, one thing. If you're all over the map what you'll end up with at the end of the day is a bunch of "stuff", and a whole lot less cash. A collection by definition is a group of interconnected or like things. If you lose interest in whatever "it" is, you can always become passionate about some other "it".

Research

Personally, I've never understood the people who collect things and never learn about them. If you're one of those that collect whatever because you think it looks pretty on your mantle, God bless you, and to each his own. But this section is not for you.

Being naturally inquisitive, and a voracious reader I have spent many, many hours researching items in my collection, and items I wish to one day acquire. No fact to is small, and no data pile is to big to wade through. I wanted to know everything about whatever Jump Wing or other Military Insignia I planned on purchasing. Doing my home work has helped me avoid a sizable loss of cash on acquisitions. In the world of Insignia Collecting, like every other area of the hobby, a fake is worth next to nothing, unless you collect fakes.

Doing research on Insignia Collecting at times is like walking through a minefield. Some of the best areas to find information, are also some of the most treacherous. For you real newbies out there, I'm speaking about online forums. A simple Google search will turn up several Military Insignia Collecting Forums. They all have good information, and some truly passionate, well informed members willing to help a new collector out. They are also loaded with BS, and some real bastards that aren't happy unless their tearing someone else down. The best advice here is "lurk" for a while, read as many posts as you can stand, and get the lay of the land. It won't take to long to figure out who is who, and who is best to address your questions to.

Books are another good source of information. The downside is that most are very expensive. Most books on Insignia Collecting are self published, published by short run companies, or out of print, which makes them a bit pricy. For example, if you Collect Jump Wings, the 2 "must have" books are Bragg & Turner's 2 volumes covering Parachute Qualification Badges. If you can find them they will put you back $100-$150 for the pair. They are a heavy investment that will help you identify a Jump Wing, but will not help you a bit in determining if it is a fake or not.

Before you get to deep in the hobby you should also consider joining one of the collector's societies out there. The largest and probably best general one is the American Society of Military Insignia Collectors at http://www.asmic.org . A Google search will point the way to other more specialized groups such as Chute & Dagger.

Rough Neighborhoods

While the vast amount of Military Insignia on the market is very common and cheap, there exists families of insignia that the price of which will take your breath away. I would advise any new collector to avoid the following types of insignia at all cost (if you ignore me, you will be sorry):

Waffen SS, SS, Any WW2 German Elite Formation. The manufacture of reproduction (fake) insignia of the group has gone on for so long that it would not be a stretch to claim that for every original piece there are 1,000+ fakes of it. Rule of thumb here: Unless it's the old SS guy giving you the insignia himself, IT'S FAKE.

Vietnam War Elite Units. Another area so rife with fakes that almost everything on the market is worthless. Again, unless it's going from the Vet's hands to yours, IT'S A FAKE.

1^st Special Service Force, Early Ranger Scrolls, and Early British Para Wings. While the prices for most of this group's insignia are Earthly in Nature, stay away from this group until you have armed yourself with a lot of information. This group is heavily faked, but not to the point of being toxic like the above mentioned groups.

Where to obtain Military Insignia

What you collect will determine which wells you will go to. Modern US insignia is easily obtainable from many vendors that serve our Armed Forces. Once armed with good information, antique stores, gun or insignia shows, flea markets, and even garage sales will become sources. eBay is where a large portion of the selling of Military Insignia takes place. Beware of this well. I have used it in the past and obtained some good stuff, but I count myself lucky, and I do not visit this well often.

Have Fun

Last piece of advice today: Remember that you are doing this for some sort of pleasure. If it gets to be too much, take a vacation from it. This is a wonderful hobby with many fine people from all walks of life that share your passion. Just don't let the occasional Bastard get you down.