âbut to knock up that shell you'd need a foundry and a good knowledge of WW1â
Not really the point. If itâs a 1917 small shell, why remove the base in the first place? If itâs concern about contamination from the spent primer etc, drift it out and pug it with a drop of solder evidently copiously used elsewhere. Or, drop in some disc and solder it in place. Whatever a lot less effort than replacing the base? Re the alleged RFC badge, personally I think itâs a bit too rare for me to take seriously.
Anyway, bottom line is would you give over 30 sobs for it?
bluey and I wouldnât which doesnât mean to say either would not buy it for a couple of notes, but not 30.
Just go to eBay and type Trench Art in the search box and a bevy of items will present themselves, including shell jugs from £1.99 like
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TRENCH-ART-SH...goryZ585QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
And
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/World-War-I-W...ryZ64823QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Then, how do you define âTrench Artâ? In my book pukka Trench Art is something made-up by troops in the line from odds around them. Commercial âTrench Artâ is anything not made by the above, in the above fashion, knocked out to earn a few shekels. Some of the bits may be old â see eBay to buy genuine old shells from 99p â but turned-out as recent as last week somewhere in the world. If you regard that as Trench Art then youâve a considerably bigger market to fish?
If you accept anything said on eBay as gospel, well good luck to you. Got a few grand to spare â look at all the items listed as Commando, SAS, SBS. For example, youâll probably find a âgenuineâ WWII Cdo officer beret badge for No.2. Cdo Regiment complete with the text âCommandoâ arched across the top. It says so on eBay so it must be genuine. Apart from the fact NO Army Cdos were ever regimented in WWII, ask a real No.2 Veteran about these badges â like the secretary of their dwindling fraternity â and theyâll say it's utter total bollox. No such animal, never made or issued in WWII. Disagree? Fine, hereâs my £500, slap down your £500 and weâll go ask them. Or, how about a âgenuineâ No.1 Cdo Salamander hand sewn badge? Guaranteed genuinely hand sewn by Mrs Patel last month. And, why not shell out for all those âGenuine Cdo F&S WWIIâ fighting knives â especially the ones with crowsfoot marks and âB2â stamped on which either look nothing like MoD stamps or were never applied at the time in the first place?
âBut if it's not true tell eBay?â Yeah, ever tried to get sh1t from a rocking-horse? A few years ago someone was selling the beret of a deceased Veteran I knew. I phoned his daughter and asked if she still had her dadâs beret, as she brought to a commemoration the year before. She went up to wardrobe to check, and yes it was still there. Some septic paid over 400 notes for âsomeâ beret.
Your money, spend it on what you fancy.
No.9