military collar star

[unclemac]

Dad brought this back from New Guinea during WW2. He always said it was Japanese but I can't find it in any image. It has a screw back and he had two of them. If not Japanese it could be Dutch or Australian. Would appreciate any info.

 

[Retired Sarge]

According to the US Militaria site, they are foreign and believed to be Italian although I can't find a match. The owner of the one below, on the US Militaria site, still believes they are US made, although there are no matches to be found in US Military medal grade insignia.

WWII General's Star or Naval Star? - METAL RANK INSIGNIA - U.S. Militaria Forum

 

[unclemac]

According to the US Militaria site, they are foreign and believed to be Italian although I can't find a match. The owner of the one below, on the US Militaria site, still believes they are US made, although there are no matches to be found in US Military medal grade insignia.

WWII General's Star or Naval Star? - METAL RANK INSIGNIA - U.S. Militaria Forum

thanks for the quick response. All I know for sure is that they were collected in New Guinea....however...they WERE spoils from poker games and not taken from the field.

 

[Retired Sarge]

thanks for the quick response. All I know for sure is that they were collected in New Guinea....however...they WERE spoils from poker games and not taken from the field.

I'll keep looking and see if I can find a match, if someone doesn't find one first.

 

[nhbenz]

The closest I could find in a reasonable amount of time was from the wrong part of the world, being on Yugoslavian shoulder boards. The ones shown are actually embroidered (I think) rather than imitated embroidery, but for what it’s worth...

 

[Retired Sarge]

thanks for the quick response. All I know for sure is that they were collected in New Guinea....however...they WERE spoils from poker games and not taken from the field.

Some how I wonder if they might be "Theater Made" US Navy Line Officer stars. While there are no US made metal stars like this, they did use Bullion stars like this. See images below, for examples of the Bullion stars. The only thing is the simple/cheap construction leaves me confused.

 

[Retired Sarge]

The closest I could find in a reasonable amount of time was from the wrong part of the world, being on Yugoslavian shoulder boards. The ones shown are actually embroidered (I think) rather than imitated embroidery, but for what it’s worth...
View attachment 1803715

I also wondered if they might be shoulder board pips, but couldn't find examples of metals stars in this configuration.

 

[jewelerguy]

to me it looks more like the stars found on WW2 era Italian collar tabs. I don't believe the nut is is the original fastening part of the device though

 

[dozer dan]

Just for s&g, have you put a wrench on the nut to see if it’s metric?

 

[unclemac]

Just for s&g, have you put a wrench on the nut to see if it’s metric?

no, not sure i have anything that small.