Ty Cobb pin?
 

Hi-
I recently purchased the item scanned below from an antique dealer. Is this a vintage Ty Cobb pin? Or was it made more recently? I cannot find anything similar to it in online searches. Has anyone seen this item before? Any thoughts at all would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

The stick pin itself looks relatively new compared to the wear on the button. Neat item though.

When looking at a pin, corrosion and rust on the back, and especially the needle, is good evidence it is antique. The needles on most turn of the century pins are very rusty and dark.

Aluminum tends not to corrode, but most antique baseball pins weren't aluminum. Either way, that's obviously not aluminum as aluminum is silverly white (and light in weight). Gold also doesn't corrode, but it's a safe guess the back and needle aren't gold.

Thank you David and Greg! I think the pin might have been added more recently, and then it fell off (that might be why there is a bunch of gunk on the back). Has anyone ever seen this before? Alternatively, has anyone ever seen this particular image of Cobb (with or without a facsimile autograph)?

Thanks,
Alan

Alan,

Reminds me of this:

I'm not pin or jewelry expert, but did hear an expert jeweler say that you can tell if a brooch or similar has been restored or altered just by examining the back. It will have obviously added metal, soldering, other. Just looking at the back mess of your pin, it is possible it was restored and/or converted with a new needle added.

It's hard to tell from the scans, but does the pin actually fit into the back of the button, or was it somehow adhered to the back (resulting in the mess-of-whatever visible on the back when it popped off)? My eyes could be playing tricks on me, but it almost looks like a disc of some sort that someone had glued a pin onto in an effort to make it into a pin/button. If originally a pinback, I would find it more likely that the pin portion would fit into the back of the pin, within the lip of the curl, rather than being glued onto the back.

I also think a closer-cropped scan would be more helpful/clear (we don't need to see the empty space of the entire scanner bed).

Great point... A bigger/clearer scan of the reverse would reveal a lot.

I think I see a recessed area where the curved pinback might fit in. If so, the pin portion does look to be a replacement, as it doesn't match the wear/corrosion of the "Button" portion. But the reverse scan is such a blurry mess, that it's to hard to tell. To Lance's point, it also appears possible that another pin (or attaching device) has long since become detached from the center.

Thank you for thee additional information! I really appreciate all of the help provided so far. I will take a better scan of the reverse and post the picture tomorrow.

Alan

Mostly just an off topic side note, but antique jewelry was sometimes altered into a different item. Changing grandpa's medal into a stick pin or grandma's brooch into a necklace pendent or pin into a ring. That's why the jeweler said to look at the back to see if an item has been altered. Many of these changes were done years ago and not for resale or nefarious purposes. Some woman liked the pendent, but preferred to wear it as a stick pin. Making coins into pins or pendents was common, while wearing rings on necklace chains is still done today.

Thumbs down
 

Does not look right to me
I would say fake
Josh

Hi-
As promised, here are better scans of the front and back. I cropped it as close as possible and scanned at 400DPI. I really appreciate everyone's thoughts that have posted.
Thanks again,
Alan

Cobb pin
 

Alan, have you sold that pin? I saw a similar one, and have not seen anything like it online, or anywhere else. I'm wondering if it's the same pin cause this one too has the corroded circle on the top left of the pin. Any idea on the worth of the pin? Thanks.
Eddie

I'm with Josh.

Hi-
I need to check again, but I believe I traded this pin to a friend of mine a year or two ago. I will let you know but he might have traded it or sold it since.

Alan

My immediate thought was repro.....

Cobb
 

I believe it's period and rare.

I first read this yesterday and just realized now that this thread is almost 2 years old. :rolleyes:

Thanks Alan. I appreciate it.
 

Judging by the pin, it has some real wear on it. It looks its age.