HARLEY PIN, LOOKING FOR AGE

[curbdiggercarl57]

Dug this a month or two ago. Obviously an older Harley Davidson pin, but can anyone tell me the date by it's logo? I'm thinking 1940's, but the area that it was dug had stuff from 1890's on up.
Carl

 

[DCMatt]

Hard to say. I think this pin may be a knock-off (not official Harley-Davidson).

I looked at the Harley web site and it says they introduced the bar & shield logo around 1910.

I looked at a bunch of adverts from the 20's, 30's, and 40's and didn't see anything even close to your design. All of them included the words MOTOR CYCLES - even the pre-1910 logo.

DCMatt

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Back?

 

[GopherDaGold]

Having ridden Harvey Diddleson motorcycles since '95 AND having ridden with the likes of Peter Fonda, Willie G, Dan Goodman, and Jay Leno on numerous charity runs, I can say with certainty that is NOT a bar and shield logo.
H.D. pins do not have to have the word 'motorcycles' to be legit. The lettering on yours appears similar to lettering on early 'glides.
I will do more research but I believe yours is legit.

 

[turtlefoot13]

I believe it is the real deal. I am trying to see if I can find a date range. I rode for many years and collected HD memorabillia for many more. Take a look at the lettering on this, especially the 'v' in Davidson.

http://www.harley-collectibles.com/additionalimages.asp?itemid=2356&section=Vintage+Items

Doug

 

[GopherDaGold]

I looked at over 5000 examples on ePay and didn't see one like it. I know I've seen that style before.

 

[traderoftreasures]

i just sold this on e bay for 43.00

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Whats on the back?

 

[DCMatt]

i just sold this on e bay for 43.00

T-o-T

Good sleuthing! I guess it is not a knock off.

Now if we can see the back it might provide another clue about the era.

DCMatt

 

[IronSpike]

Here's a buckle:

http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/transportation/motorcycle.htm

logo patch:

http://www.ioffer.com/i/harley-davidson-logo-patch-96849895

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Back?

Plain, missing the pin attachment.
Carl

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Sorry for taking so long to respond, work and other things keeping me busy. Here's a scan of the back, along with a dime I dug yesterday. And no, you don't need to see the back of the dime to see what mint mark is NOT there. Oh how I prayed for the little letter "D". Thinking it's for a shirt collar pin, now that I looked at it closer. I'm leaning towards 1940's, it has certain font traits. Thanks for all the input,
Carl

 

[Digger]

I'm hoping to find one myself. Last year I found the location of a 2 mile motorcycle track that was used from 1914 to the 1920's for the National 300 and 500 mile races. It was the big shootout between Harley Davidson and Indian Motorcycles. I've only hunted it for several months last year before the farmer planted and I had to stop, but I found many period coins(1889 to 1920) and 3 1913-1914 Indian Motorcycles pins. I'm figuring if there were Indian Motorcycles pins there has got to be a few Harley Davidsons pins.

 

[IronSpike]

I'm hoping to find one myself. Last year I found the location of a 2 mile motorcycle track that was used from 1914 to the 1920's for the National 300 and 500 mile races. It was the big shootout between Harley Davidson and Indian Motorcycles. I've only hunted it for several months last year before the farmer planted and I had to stop, but I found many period coins(1889 to 1920) and 3 1913-1914 Indian Motorcycles pins. I'm figuring if there were Indian Motorcycles pins there has got to be a few Harley Davidsons pins.

Pretty good value on the laughing indian pin:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Vint...em&pt=Apparel_Merchandise&hash=item3cab25b50c

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

I'm hoping to find one myself. Last year I found the location of a 2 mile motorcycle track that was used from 1914 to the 1920's for the National 300 and 500 mile races. It was the big shootout between Harley Davidson and Indian Motorcycles. I've only hunted it for several months last year before the farmer planted and I had to stop, but I found many period coins(1889 to 1920) and 3 1913-1914 Indian Motorcycles pins. I'm figuring if there were Indian Motorcycles pins there has got to be a few Harley Davidsons pins.

That is a sweet find! can you post the others? I've dug numerous car related stuff, even an aeronautical fob from around 1911, but that tiny little Harley pin is it, motorcycle-wise.
Carl

 

[IronSpike]

Not sure this is the right route, however noticed the trademark sign on the logo patch. This is the closest I could find under HD trademarks (filing date Aug 12, 1947):

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4008:ul6f5q.2.197

 

[Digger]

Anyone notice something different about the pin on the "original" "NOT A COPY" Ebay listing pin? Notice the pin itself has a modern clasp, and the pins location is above the eyes not below like mine. I know mine is original, but I have my doubts about the Ebay one.