Named US WW1 USMC tunic

[drbill]

disks

The usmc collar disks are reproductions in my opinion- I had to learn the hard way about these and got burned a couple of times! These don't exhibit characteristics of a real pair.

[Marc Shaffer]

And in doing the conversion from Army to USMC to enhance value, it wouldn't make sense that original disks were used. That would cut too deeply into the "put together artist's" profit margin. I'm no "disk expert", but those on the tunic aren't something I'd buy if I saw them on the loose. I just don't like their appearance.

Right now I wouldn't buy the discs either. I know that this particular style is highly reproduced, but perhaps they were originally copied from an original set. Just have learned over the years to never say never. Until the actual maker is found on these, I remain somewhat neutral on them with the opinion that the majority are repros. Just a few years ago, there were variations to the USMC discs that collector's said were repros that turned out to be good variants.

[Kevin Treadway]

Uniform

I don't like the discs either, sorry. Recent reference by Bieuer would cast doubt on these I believe. As a long time WWI Marine uniform collector, I believe this is an Army tunic with army patch and has been modified, just my two cents. There are some interesting and early varieties of the Indianhead patch worn by the Marines early on that were made prior to the introduction of the diamond and square (and oval for 6th MGB and 4th brigade HQ) patches, but those early ones are distinctly different than the one seen on this tunic, which has already been said appears to be the 2nd division 23rd HQ. 4th Brigade rosters (the fighting unit of the Marines in WWI, and the only Marines who would have worn the Indianhead patch) abound, and the fact neither name in the tunic is found on this roster is a big concern. As has already been mentioned, righteous 4th Brigade tunics are highly sought after and need to be carefully scrutinized to determine if they have been put together or not. Real sorry to be the bearer of bad news, although the tunic is clean and patch appears original and would have some value in their own right. Kevin

[C. Roelens]

Not sure why the photos didn’t upload:

Original - Type 1

[C. Roelens]

Two more...

Chuck

[C. Roelens]

I do not consider the collar discs (Type-2) on this tunic to be original. These I would...

Chuck

[C. Roelens]

Two more...

Chuck