Hi Gary,
I am very glad to have your input, thanks. John Cooper said he remembers seeing a photo with a wing just like this one somewhere, perhaps in "The New England Aviators". Hopefully, he will remember where he has seen a period photo of this wing and forward it to me. It would be very nice to see the kind of fellow who would have worn something so gawd-awful.
As far as the color, I have studied it very close from every angle, even trying to lift the "S" side of the insignia to see if I could see some silvering underneath, but I can't as the clasp is literally embedded in between the bullion. If it is discoloration (which it may very well be), it is not uniform throughout.
In comparison to the Wingate wing, the silver washers forming the wing have not toned gold (nor has the rest of the wing) as have the ones on the ugly wing. If the color has turned with age, it is very odd that some elements of the wing are clearly still silver.
Bookmarks