Japanese Collar Tab Question....

[Chris Taylor]

I just picked this up & had a couple of questions (this being far from my area of expertise ).

First off, what rank is this? a sergeant?

What are the markings on the back?

And last, was $4 to much to pay?

Thanks alot in advance guys.

[Chris Taylor]

Back......

[blinky]

Yup, the rank is Sergeant. I don't know what the markings are on the back, hopefully Eric Doody can give you an idea. $4 isn't a bad price at all. It's a nice tab.

eric

[Chris Taylor]

Thanks Eric,

I thought 2 stars w/a stripe was Sergeant, but I wasn't 100%.

My guess was the stamp was a maker or lot number, but as I said this isn't my area at all.

Actually I got this off Ebay for $.89, but with shipping & handling it came out to $4.04. Seemed like an OK price to me, and I just don't have enough Japanese stuff in my collection.

[blinky]

Where are these .87 cent tabs when I'm looking for them?
The pin holes on the back, are they on the top or the bottom of the tab? I'm wondering if it had been pinned to a shirt pocket. The kanji in the circle looks like "Naka", it might be the first part of the soldiers name.

eric

[Chris Taylor]

The pin holes would be on the top, so the back actually look like the photo below.

I considered it being a name, but it looks like a ink stamp. Were names ever made using stamps?

Also whats the going rate on these anyway?

[Eric Doody]

Chris,

Thanks for posting the photo of your Army Model 98 (i.e., 1938) sergeant's collar rank insignia on the forum.

I have seen similar markings on the backside of insignia and believe the markings to be manufacturer markings as opposed to be a name. (Japanese surnames usually consist of two or three kanji as opposed to one kanji.)

I agree with Blinky in that the encircled kanji looks like the kanji "CHU" or "naka" (means "center, middle, medium, inside, within, etc.) and could the logo for the manufacturer's name (e.g., "Nakagawa").

Insofar as a price for the insignia, I see similar insignia priced in the $5 to $10 range. (Of course I see similar insignia priced much more than this, but I don't see it selling.)

Hope this helps.

Eric

[Chris Taylor]

Thank you so much for the helpful info Eric.

Really a big help!