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Suspect Lincoln

These Have Age, But Not Enough

December 28, 2019

This pair of patriotic badges were recently listed on eBay. The vendor (who had 100% positive feedback) claimed they came out of a Vermont estate. They were represented as Lincoln campaign badges. We don’t like the fact that the slogans are stenciled and not printed. The metallic bullion stars are readily available and can easily be sourced. The satin ribbon on the “Union” badge looks to be late 19th or early 20th century vintage. The star was obviously cut out from something else. The grosgrain ribbon on the other badge could be Civil War vintage, but badges of this type from the Civil War typically have silk ribbon streamers. Plus, the slogan “Vermont Lincoln Union” seems modeled after another spurious piece, the “Ohio Union Lincoln” swallow-tail cloth banners. We don’t like them.