buyer beware Ebay listing

[OC Richard]

I don't think this Ebay listing is what it seems.

I would be interested on hearing from you all as well, if there's something I'm missing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MASSIVE-ANT.../222745285210?

If you were just to show me the photos, I'd say it's a typical standard pattern civilian Pipe Band brooch.

Dates are hard to pin down on these "Highland ornaments" (as they were called in the old catalogues) due to the same patterns being in production for many years. This pattern of brooch shows up in vintage catalogues (1930s) and is still in production today. The first Pipe Band I played in issued me a brooch identical to this in 1977.

I think it's cast from solid German Silver (nickel) which probably places it in the c1920-c1960 period. At some point in the post-WWII period they switched from solid German Silver to nickel-plated brass.

The claim that this brooch is from the mid-19th century can be dismissed IMHO unless there is air-tight provenance.

The price is astoundingly absurd. Vintage German Silver brooches often go for around $100 on Ebay.

Here's the brooch in the typical tri-fold sporran catalogue photos which a number of sporranmakers used throughout the 1960s to 1980s, called PSB1