Posted 3 years ago
scottvez
(977 items)
"The abundance of items created by soldiers in World War I and in the years immediately after gave rise to the term “trench art.” Over time, the term has become generalized to refer to art made from ordnance or military equipment from any era."
(Smithsonian, National Air and Space Museum)
These are well known and documented pieces that were very popular during the War. Often seen as sweetheart gifts and engraved with a wife or girlfriend's name.
This example has a 1942 Australian coin attached to the front. Attached by typical era aluminum repair rivets.
My trench art, my photos-- don't copy.
scott
Thanks much buss!
scott
Great silver Florin too !!.!.!!
Yep-- I really like those.
Australian craftsmen destroyed a lot of them to satisfy the tourist market of US soldiers during WW2! They are often found turned into brooches, necklaces and bracelets.
scott
Thanks much dlpetersen and lori.
scott
Thanks much racer.
scott
Interesting thought about how many of the florins were destroyed for jewelry. Most of the items I have seen are made of the lower denominations 3d 6d and shillings. 81,188,000 florins were minted from 1942-1944 of which 28,000,000 were minted by the San Francisco mint! The coins are still fairly common and I am sure many more were melted for the silver content than were destroyed to make jewelry.
I didn't know that some were minted in SF-- great bit of information.
scott