Collecting patches is a time honored tradition. Scrap books were created for children in the 1940s that had the designated places to glue the patches on. Soldiers would send home patches from the war and even within Kellogg's cereal boxes you could find patches after the war.
You can find patches at garage sales, antique stores, flea markets, or even eBay.
At any one time, there are over 10,000x WW2 patches on eBay found here. Due to rarity of patches and variations within those patches, prices can range from $1.00 to $2,500.
**Please Note** Especially within the last 4 years there have been a huge increase in reproduction patches on the market. So before you go out and spend more than $20 on a single patch, you will want to learn a bit about spotting reproduction patches.
If you want to start collecting patches, I would suggest joining two websites. The first is free, and is the US Militaria Forum. The second, is ASMIC, which stands for American Society for Military Insignia Collectors. It costs about $25 each year but they provide free resources to it's members.
Quarterly, ASMIC puts out the "The Trading Post" and a member has access online to all of the past issues. A must for all serious collectors and historians.
There are many variations of patches available to the WW2 era. Some are all cotton, on felt, twill, wool, or are even embellished with gold/silver bullion thread. Below are variations of the USMC 5th Amphibious patch for educational purposes.
You can find patches at garage sales, antique stores, flea markets, or even eBay.
At any one time, there are over 10,000x WW2 patches on eBay found here. Due to rarity of patches and variations within those patches, prices can range from $1.00 to $2,500.
**Please Note** Especially within the last 4 years there have been a huge increase in reproduction patches on the market. So before you go out and spend more than $20 on a single patch, you will want to learn a bit about spotting reproduction patches.
If you want to start collecting patches, I would suggest joining two websites. The first is free, and is the US Militaria Forum. The second, is ASMIC, which stands for American Society for Military Insignia Collectors. It costs about $25 each year but they provide free resources to it's members.
Quarterly, ASMIC puts out the "The Trading Post" and a member has access online to all of the past issues. A must for all serious collectors and historians.
There are many variations of patches available to the WW2 era. Some are all cotton, on felt, twill, wool, or are even embellished with gold/silver bullion thread. Below are variations of the USMC 5th Amphibious patch for educational purposes.
You should look to be a member of ASMIC and you can get a yearly online subscription for only a meager $25. That gives you access to years and years of Trading Post publications where you can learn a rediculous amount of information.
The USMF is a free resource. It is a group of thousands of collectors and dealers.
The USMF is a free resource. It is a group of thousands of collectors and dealers.
