Rhodesia Items

Today's flea market finds.

I learned - after the fact - that a vendor at the local flea market had a lot of Rhodesia items - Selous Scouts rank insignia, unit flag-guidon - all of which was quickly snapped up by others. The vendor had cleaned out a storage unit and discovered a hell of a lot of items related to central and southern Africa.  In particular was a lot of items from South Africa and Rhodesia.  

However, after digging through some of the vendor's boxes I found a few nice items.  


A Selous Scouts Belt with buckle, cap/beret pin, as well as a pin for the Greys Scouts.  Also, a lot of stamps from central and southern Africa, with an emphasis on South Africa and Rhodesia.



I'd appreciate any input - do these items look good?  I have no reason to believe otherwise, however would appreciate opinions.



Thanks -




Bryan

some nice pieces there. The copper plaques were sold as souvenirs (tho the originals were made in RHodesia, so the Made in South Africa could just be something added later, since RHodesia wasn't allowed to export anything for sale. Just IMHO.

THe stable belt is very nice. The grey's scout badge looks legit, but the Selous Scout appears to be a repro (the back and lugs just don't look right). The tracker combat unit appears to be a repro, the original printed patches were done on od/brown fabric. The camo fabric it's printed on appears to be the south african made replica rhod camo that came out in the 80s.

The Africa's Super Power was a great book, I think Paul Moorcroft did it He also did a Contact II which was a continuation (done in south africa) of the John Lovett "Contact" book. So you got some nice things there.

zvez wrote:some nice pieces there. The copper plaques were sold as souvenirs (tho the originals were made in RHodesia, so the Made in South Africa could just be something added later, since RHodesia wasn't allowed to export anything for sale. Just IMHO.

THe stable belt is very nice. The grey's scout badge looks legit, but the Selous Scout appears to be a repro (the back and lugs just don't look right). The tracker combat unit appears to be a repro, the original printed patches were done on od/brown fabric. The camo fabric it's printed on appears to be the south african made replica rhod camo that came out in the 80s.

The Africa's Super Power was a great book, I think Paul Moorcroft did it He also did a Contact II which was a continuation (done in south africa) of the John Lovett "Contact" book. So you got some nice things there.

I truly appreciate your input. As I have no expertise in these items I'd hoped that a more knowledgeable collector might help sort me out.

The tracker patch I felt might likely be repro - I looked online and the ones I saw were indeed on a brownish fabric (plus the Velcro stood out). The pins and belt I didn't know about. I saw several belts online and felt that mine might be ok, however these days it's difficult to tell - again, I don't have much knowledge in this area.

The items were part of a larger group an acquaintance had cleaned out of a storage unit, which was mostly filled with political items (the previous owner had been a Tennessee political figure of some note. The unit had a ton of books, as well as quite a lot of Rhodesia and South Africa items. The bulk of these items were bought before I arrived, however I did manage to find these few items out of the way.

I had heard of the Seleous Scouts, and so was pleased to find the belt. The book, commemorative South Africa stamps and cards, and all of the stamps were sort of lumped into the deal. In all, I paid $30 for everything, so I felt ok with it. (I even got an "Al Haig for President" political pin and a Ronald Regan coffee mug thrown in for free!)

You got a great deal, the belt alone is certainly $100 easily (in the past, probably more now). I can't imagine what other goodies were in that unit before you got to the seller.

The vendor from whom I picked up Rhodesia / South Africa items last month found a couple more items left over from last month's flea market.

A few more stamped commemorative South Africa military decoration envelopes and stamps, as well as a Selous Scouts insignia. I'm not sure what the Selous Scouts item is - something official or perhaps a decorative wall-hanging item?



Bryan