The object of the day: Victorian copy of Milanese barbute

Victorian copy of Milanese barbute c. 1455

Height :11 7/8''
Price: $2450.00 

Elegantly formed one piece skull with rolled lower edge and riveted reinforcement around the facial opening. Complete and in typical condition for genuine examples, most of which come from a small number of find places such as the Venetian arsenal at Chalcis, are preserved in condition relatively uniform for their respective groups.
A few genuine examples in comparable complete and unrestored condition have surfaced in the past half century and are currently valued in the $200,000 range. This example almost certainly was made as a forgery and lacking modern photographic technology, would easily have deceived the many wealthy collectors of the 19th century.

The object of the day: The WWI identity tag

All World War I service personnel were issued with a set of fibre identity discs, a green octagonal shaped disc, and a red round disc. Both were worn around the neck on a 38" length of cotton cord, although this was often replaced by the wearer with a leather bootlace.

This identity tag or 'dog tag' was owned by Stanley George Plummer.

The inscription reads: 14250222 BAP PLUMMER, S

Militaria basics

The wide range of collectible military antiques provides would-be collectors with huge scope. You may decide to concentrate on a particular regiment, a type of object, or on a period of military history. Complete early uniforms may be hard to find, but the head-dresses, badges, fastenings, medals, powder flasks, postcards ad prints are readily available and can form fascinating and highly decorative collections.