antique Grill Badges

[JDK2244]

recently i was cleaning my garage and i found my grandfathers collection of grill badges from the late 50s to late 60s. i was wondering if anybody could give me information on these pieces, such as some history, the rarity, price etc. thanks for taking a look.

[TheMoneyPit]

The Lexington is from a car - The Lexington Minuteman Six - it is the only manufacturers item there, and is from the early to mid teens. The company made cars from 1909 to 1928 and were absorbed by Auburn in the end.

The rest are club items and have some collectability but not to the extent of the Lexington.

I'd venture a guess on values, but your best bet would be to use e-bay as a pricing tool to see what others actually sold for.

There was recently a later Lexington badge on e-bay that never received an opening bid of $250.00 if it helps at all - it was nice, but later than yours and not as delicate. I've had one like yours in my collection since the early 1980's and can't say I've seen many since.

[graydog]

Hi; I am looking for a grille badge from the 1964 worlds fair some of the auto manufactors issued them ,ford,mustang,chevy,etc.If you know of any,or where I could look,please let me know.. Thanks Ed 914-245-5683 PS hope you dont mind me putting this on your tread.

[Terry Bond]

Badges are much more hotly collected in Europe than here in the USA. They are distinctly different than auto nameplates and radiator scripts. They fall into several categories - marque specific, place and event commemoratives, advertising, and the most common, club related. There are of course both old and modern and the club badges shown are fairly recent, and versions are currently available from the clubs.

You'll find badges advertising insurance companies, gas and oil, race tracks and special races or other events, and badges for every kind of club you could imagine from fraternal organizations to hot rod clubs. There are some great old badges out and it's a whole area of collecting I've only dabbled in over the years.

Ebay is really a great place to see what's out there and what kind of prices they bring. I'd recommend keeping these and adding to the collection.

[rniez]

The one in the top of the first picrure is from the Sebring 12 hour race; probably from the 1950's.

[TheMoneyPit]

Good point Terry - I tend to get blinded by my own interests - club badges NOT being one of those.

Adding to the collection is a great idea, and can be done on the modest end or extreme end of the cost perspective. Anyone can put together a world class collection even if you only add a few items per year, plus you can learn a lot of history in the process. I would never have known that the badge mentioned was from a Sebring race if not for Rich's posting.

To add the last answer, TCF is for the Touring Club of France - the other four in the set are self explanetory and I'm sure are also collectable.

[JDK2244]

here is some more sebring memorabilia since some interest was expressed