101st airborne lighter

**Politefaun** · 02-22-2020, 08:44 PM

Hello all, today I was able to get this lighter from the local show. If you've seen MAPs lighters this came from the same dealer and at the time he got his back in the fall I had already spent my money on other things so I had to cross my fingers and hope it would be around for this one. Even though I focus on helmets and to a lesser extent medals this is now one of my favorite pieces in my collection, I think it really captures that time period and being a personal item from a soldier only adds to it. I think I'm going to have to find a Vietnam war era airborne M-1 to go with it.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 02-22-2020 08:44 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**RH1941** · 02-22-2020, 08:47 PM

When was the lighter made it looks brand new . Gary

**Tank Destroyer** · 02-22-2020, 08:48 PM

Can we see the bottom of the lighter?

Marty

**Politefaun** · 02-22-2020, 08:52 PM

I'll upload some better pictures its not nearly as clean in person as it looks in those

**Politefaun** · 02-22-2020, 09:33 PM

Added some new photos interestingly there’s no date code at the bottom, but the patent number and logo line up with the timeframe. When I come back home I’ll check out the inside and posts a couple of pictures of it.

**MAP** · 02-23-2020, 06:19 AM

Was the wait worth it Steve? We pretty much cleaned him out over the last year. Filler her up and learn some trick moves. It's fun.

Now. This is a 1964 dated example. A nice early Vietnam era piece with honest wear. Lines up well with the 65-66 inscription.

The single dot on either side of the word "Zippo" is what you need to look for to date it.

Zippo - Date Codes | Zippo.com

**Politefaun** · 02-23-2020, 06:54 AM

It was definitely worth the wait! Thank you for the link! I was trying to figure out the markings on it since they didn't match a 66' lighter and for a second I thought it was a fake. I see the two dots on both sides of the label I'm happy to know its 100%.