Anyone know what these letters stand for on this pin...? UPDATE Pic of back

[DPBOB]

Any help would be appreciated.....Thanks.......
It's about the size of a penny
The back is a screw type ( complete )

[frogwizard]

ACSM.... American College of Sports Medicine? Just a guess.

[DPBOB]

ACSM.... American College of Sports Medicine? Just a guess.

That could be a possibility since they were founded in 1954...
The newest coin from the area was a 1957

[turtlefoot13]

Frog - your response sounds very possible. I am wondering though, it that first letter an "A"? I don't see a distinct cross line for it. It almost looks like the symbol for pi although I am probably wrong.

Doug

[Bigcypresshunter]

I guess I see the Pi but maybe I can learn something about the other letters of the Greek alphabet because I dont see them in this monogram.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma


Are there any manufacturers marks on the back? Can we see what the back looks like?

[Breezie]

I guess I see the Pi but maybe I can learn something about the other letters of the Greek alphabet because I dont see them in this monogram.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma


Are there any manufacturers marks on the back? Can we see what the back looks like?

You're right BigC, it's late and I was mixing the 2 alphabets together. There are 2 Greek letters: Pi and M for Mu. Everybody forget what I said . . .lol . . better yet, let me delete it. Thanks Big C, Breezie

[trikikiwi]

I do enjoy trying to help identify old pins like this.

I knew that wasn't an A up top, but the Pi didn't click in until Breezie spoke.
I agree with BigCy, it's likely Pi and then the English Alphabet. Ok, Ok American alphabet

Maybe the star represents a cross and the CS letters stand for Catholic School.

The 8 holes in the perimeter of the pin, to me, say 'engineering' .

Mike

[Bigcypresshunter]

I see it but Im not so sure its a Greek Pi. That is Turtlefoots idea. I dont know what it is.

[Bramblefind]

With the "M" and the Pi together I keep thinking something to do with mathematics. I came up with the Canadian Mathematical Society but haven't found anything to coneect the pin design to it.

[BuckleBoy]

I think this style of ornate acronym device is earlier than the 1950s. We see this style of lettering on transportation buttons, old locks, and other items from the last quarter of the 19th c.

[ivan salis]

pi then SMC -- compass 4 ways --N, E, S, W

[BuckleBoy]

USMC -- compass 8 ways --N, ne, E, se, S, sw, W, nw

Or a decorative 4-pointed star with a bunch of holes for attaching the piece to something else.

[Breezie]

I have 3 theories:
#1 There are 2 Greek Letters: the Pi and the M, which is Mu. There is a Pi Mu Fraternity for Computer Science, which would explain the CS. This frat is an academic fraternity and not a social one, which would explain the 'plain jane' looking pin. Most social fraternities/sororities have jeweled 10K pins.

#2 Using the one Greek letter of Pi, maybe it is a MATH & COMPUTER SCIENCE club named 'Pi,' which would be a dandy name for a math club, and the "M" stands for Math and the CS for Computer Science.

#3 My third theory is the pin is upside down, and it reads: WSU which would be Washington State Univer. or Wayne State Univer. or any other college or club with those initials.

Theory #2 makes the most sense to me. Breezie

[BuckleBoy]

I have 3 theories:
#1 There are 2 Greek Letters: the Pi and the M, which is Mu. There is a Pi Mu Fraternity for Computer Science, which would explain the CS. This frat is an academic fraternity and not a social one, which would explain the 'plain jane' looking pin. Most social fraternities/sororities have jeweled 10K pins.

#2 Using the one Greek letter of Pi, maybe it is a MATH & COMPUTER SCIENCE club named 'Pi,' which would be a dandy name for a math club, and the "M" stands for Math and the CS for Computer Science.

#3 My third theory is the pin is upside down, and it reads: WSU which would be Washington State Univer. or Wayne State Univer. or any other college or club with those initials.

Theory #2 makes the most sense to me. Breezie

If the pin is upside down, then the "C" would be backwards. Even though "WSU" would yield more possibilities for an ID, I think the orientation of the item in the first photo up top is correct.


-Buckles

[Breezie]

Last-ditch Effort

It's got to the point where I feel like that kid, Kevin, in the movie "Home Alone,"
where he says, "I'm eating junk food! Somebody better come and stop me!"

The junk food I'm referring to is the slim possibility of the M and other letters being connected to musicial notes? I know, you don't have to tell me not to go away mad, but to "Just go away!" I'm doing that right now! And as for my Magdalen College theory, it's still in the works, but looking less likely by the second! A guy just can't get any respect these days! That is unless it's a Magdalen College School merit badge for someone who was a math geek and who was also a member of the band/chior?

Thanks.

Respectfully,

Bob

Bob, Bless your heart! I read music and play several instruments, and I've never seen anything like the letters on your pin that resemble music notes. Breezie

[RPG]

Looks a lot like logo's from Michigan Agricultural College but I can't find one that has the "S". Maybe some of you guys can find it. MAC goes back to the 1840's so it may be pretty old.

http://www.cqql.net/mac.htm

[Mich. Wolverine]

When I searched C.S.M.A. this is what came up- Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View Ca. and it was founded in 1968. This might not be it, but maybe?

Wolverine.

[5woodluther]

AMSC is used to designate "Applied Mathematics, Statistic, and Scientific Computation" in the university programs. Could be possible that it is from a society for the major from a college , then the A looking like Pi would make some sense as well.

[Breezie]

AMSC is used to designate "Applied Mathematics, Statistic, and Scientific Computation" in the university programs. Could be possible that it is from a society for the major from a college , then the A looking like Pi would make some sense as well.

This goes along with my #2 theory:
#2 Using the one Greek letter of Pi, maybe it is a MATH & COMPUTER SCIENCE club named 'Pi,' and the "M" stands for Math and the CS for Computer Science. I believe it is some type of 'club' or 'non-social fraternaty' pin. Breezie

[Fast_Dave]

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but I don't think we can solve this one by sheer guesswork. Why? Well, first off, I think we've got a 4 letter combination here rather than 3 and a Pi symbol. A S C M in some combination. That gives a total of 24 possible combinations. Can we determine the order of the letters? Not really. I've included 4 photos below of artifacts with script letters. If you go with the first letter being on top and the other letters under it, the gold medallion would read C M M. You can see from the inscription that this is incorrect. Likewise the second artifact would read P L C. Actually, this is a fob for the Lehigh Portland Cement Company. Can we use the size of the letters to determine the sequence? Again, no. The third relic would read A G R in that case. Unfortunately, many of you probably recognize it as a button for the Grand Army of the Republic. In fact, we can't even be sure the letters have a lot to do with the organization they represent, at least not as we would recognize it. The fob in photo 4 is a good example. It clearly shows A A A on the front. So is it an advertisement for the American Adlib Association or something similar? No, it's really an advertisement for E C Atkins & Company. I have no idea why they used A A A as their symbol. Can we find the true source by Googleing all 24 combinations? Not unless you have a lot of time on your hands. When I searhed Yahoo for LPC, I came up with over 11 million hits just on english speaking websites. Of those, only 70 were related to the Lehigh Portlanf Cement Company.
So what can we tell? Well, the pin is small, about the size of a penny. That would seem to rule out hat badges or anything larger. I'd guess something along the lines of a lapel pin would be more accurate. Also, it's a screwback, something that's not used very often unless the object is intended to stay in place semi-permanently. I think we can put the age of the pin back to at least the early 20th century just based on the script lettering and the ground patina. The four ponted star may also help with the ID because it has certain religious ties to Christianity although that's not a safe bet. I just saw the same design on a lighted wall fountain and it had no significance at all. Another option may be to look into one of the letters being a state name(such as A S C of Minnesota of M A of South Carolina). I hope this can be ID'd, but I think we'll need someone who's seen this before to do so.