Badges on eBay
 

Anybody know anything about this badge?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tchlink:top:en

Says it's c. 1900...and it could be, I guess...but the owner offers no proof...

I don't know...I'm not a Delta Gamma, so anyone who knows better may freely correct me, but it doesn't look like a Delta Gamma badge. There's no DG, there's no rope, there's no Tau Delta Eta, there's no information on the back; if I stumbled across this badge Delta Gamma is not the first thing I would think of. It's pretty, but no proof makes me suspicious.

I've seen it too. I think it's a period piece of jewelry that has no connection to DG. I've seen badges from the late 1800's and early 1900's and they have always had our shield, TDH, and rope (unless it was broken).

God knows that site makes terrible mistakes. Did you see the linked pictures of the Alpha Epsilon Delta pledge pins that include a Tri Delta pin? Niiiiice.

That's what I'm thinking, too. I know girls had local jewelers make their badges in the early years, but this really only has the anchor, no other symbolism in common.

I'd be more inclined to believe it's an actual badge if the owner had offered some sort of history of the badge, especially who owned it.

Agreed.

I'm part of the facebook group formed to try to ensure greekchatters aren't bidding against one another on these rescue badges. That one hasn't even been mentioned.

I saw one badge a couple of months ago that was silver in color, with clear stones. The seller did not say white gold, with diamonds. What was really intriguing about it was the rope was backward; it went / over the TDH bar instead of \. (PM me for a link) I couldn't afford what it would go for in white gold with diamonds, and got outbid with what I was willing to spend on spec.

I sent the seller a message...

Not Ebay but Etsy
 

Deleted per request.

(URL snipped}

I've learned a lot from the facebook group. Like the Wilson Brothers often way overpricing their merchandise. This one has been listed on ebay several times without commanding the outrageous price they're asking. The original owner is not famous, and the badge is plain, so there's really no reason to pay $600 for it. This seller will hang on to it for years rather than come down on his price.

Done sorry for the error. Thought people here wanted to know so that others (non fraternity) would not buy them.

The problem is that non fraternity people can see it and are then directed to the sale.

But no non member would ever be so stupid as to even THINK about buying anything from those wackos!!!

I think "new to GC" members should be enlightened about the ridiculousness of that "seller"!

It really is so sad to see badges that are randomly put up for sale!!! Many thanks to those who do rescues!!!

Maybe some not-new to GC folks, too. I have no idea what y'all are talking about. Granted, I'm not into buying badges—perhaps if I were, I'd know the story here.

I actually had never seen the website until the link (which has now been removed) was posted here… but basically, there was a plain badge for sale for $600. That's a lot of money, even for a completely blinged out badge from 100 years ago.

I really don't think "rescuing" badges is the answer -- it just runs the price up and makes the selling of fraternity/sorority badges more popular.

Agree.

The down side would be though that much history would be lost if there weren't people who bought the pins and badges.

Unfortunately, in areas were pawn shops and estate buyers, and gold shops are unaware of what fraternity stuff is, if there wasn't someone asking them about it, they would just melt it all down for the gold and move on.

Regardless of the price, some pieces need to be saved if only to be able to preserve the rich history of the orgs, especially the older defunct groups since there aren't "members" around usually to save them..... But that may be a whole nother discussion.

The other sad fact is that there are probably tons of badges and pins being melted down everyday without anyone knowing for sure if anything really historical is in those lots. I know for a fact that the owner of "Cash for Gold" company is a member of AEPi, and he is aware if his company getting fraternity or sorority badges in those mail in envelopes, but his company handles so much scrap gold that they do not have the desire or motive to pull out anything, and just melt everything they get.

I would say that if anyone really wants to make a difference and not see these pins on eBay or in the open, then more needs to be done internally with each organization, there needs to be articles in every magazine that talk about what options are for members and their memorabilia.....alumni functions should have time dedicated to "what to do in the event of a passing...." information.

Just a thought.

THIS is indeed the only thing we can truly control... the key is in educating our members.

True. And unfortunately, there will always be members who, after college, don't care to stay involved and will be looking to make a quick buck.

And the rest of us who DO care will spend that money if it means keeping the badge and its history within our organization.