Here is the second installment of the hardest New York State OA to collect sparked by a discussion on Patch-L. This one comes from update collector NY OA Collector, Ray Gould. Ray is a frequent contributor and commenter to this site. his collecting specialty is OA from the old Area 2-G and its successor lodges. Since there are 15 lodges (34, 34, 34, 34, 120, 219, 247, 294, 357, 410, 410, 461, 465, 500, and 516), we’ll break Ray’s thoughts up over a couple of posts.
Here are his thoughts:
Through time, I’ve found the following to be among the very toughest OA in the nation to collect (most of the following have less than 10 known examples ……approx. 1/2 have less than 5 examples…and most are undervalued). They are representative of the lodges I collect.
- #34 Gonlix (IMHO…none rank among the toughest….even the arrowheads surface with occasional regularity)
- #34
- L-01 (flame shaped leather…neckerchief slide?) NEED!!!
- eX1970-1 (fall fellowship…SSC on vinyl)
Image by permission of OA Images
The last three images can be found on this site by clicking the links above.
More after the jump.
Ona Yote has a number of tough issues too, Dance and Ceremonial Team patches issued in very limited quantities.
- #34 Ona Yote
- J-0.5 (Purple Rock Dancer b/p)
- J-0.7 (Purple Rock Dancer b/p)
- J-02 (“Ceremony” b/p…presumably for Ceremonial Team) NEED!!!
- #120 Gosh Wha Gono
- X-02 (“Elangomat” patch…time will tell…I can probably still place 10 of these).
Now Ray was from Lodge #120, so while he can locate 10, it is still a need for me. Anyone have one available?
The other items marked needs, are Ray’s (although some are mine too). If you can help either of us out, let me know.
————————————————-
- I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.
Hi Bill-
As soon as I had hit “send” regarding my original publication to patch-L, I regretted to mention, perhaps, the most difficult OA piece (but not listed in Blue Book due) from Area II-G is the Caldwell pin belonging to Gonlix #34. To my knowledge, there are 2 known and both reside in the collection of Bill Topkis (although Bill sold his joint OA collection, he shared that he maintains his collection of Caldwell pins and early Scout camp items). Bill also shared that each of his 2 pins is characterized by unique hallmarks (the presumed earlier example by “Hood” and later example by “J. E. Caldwell”). The Caldwell pin is the oldest known Area II-G piece and is presumed from the 1920’s-1930’s time frame. Gonlix lodge was formed following the the promotion of a Scouting professional from Schenectady Council (Sisilija Lodge #19) to Madison County Council (Lynx #34). The possible debate is whether (or not) Bill Topkis’ “Hood” hallmark example belongs to Lynx #34 or subsequent Gonlix #34. Regardless, they are extremely rare pieces form early OA in the US.
My best-
-Ray
I believe the #34 Konoshioni L-01 is similar in style to that depicted in your recent post depicting the #284 L-01. I know of only one and will do my best to get a picture so that it may be shared for documentation purposes.
My best-
-Ray
Bill-
There were a total of 25 “Elangomat” patches produced from Gosh Wha Gono #120. At the time of the merger, only 15 (of the 25) had been earned/awarded (one needed to serve as an elangomat and have 75% of their clan seal membership through the Brotherhood level). The difficulty was not so much the high conversion standard (given that Quality Lodge was/is at 50%), but in the Elagomat’s responsibility for tracking each clan member regarding Brotherhood attainment. The award program spanned an 8 year period (and the patch was legendary within the lodge…I remember the first recipient sewing his to his red wool Scouters jacket…….wow!…….I remember the collectors being amazed at this). After 4-5 years, only 3-4 of these had been earned and the standard was relaxed to include Elangomats who had served 2 (or perhaps 3…….fairly certain of the “2” though) Ordeals. At the time of the lodge’s merger in 1999, the remaining 10 Elangomat patches were sold in lodge #219 auctions at a rate of 1/lodge event garnering $60-100 each time. Thanks for providing a forum to share this type of background information!
My best-
-Ray