Blue Book: ZJ1
| Description: This is a FAKE of our J1
"Vigil Blanket" patch. The background fabric has a shine almost silky to the
eye. In the lower right above the camp fire, is a Blue wisp of smoke as on the
J6, but with a different texture and direction of stitch. The pipe in the
chief's hands is limp with the bottom most fringe showing three segments (the
J6 has two). Close examination of the chief figure versus the J6 shows the most
difference. The J6 has no silky texture whereas all examples of this FAKE do
have such a texture. All examples also have fabric pulls not present on lodge
issues. One example also had scrapes of newspaper imbedded in the back base
material, containing Oriental style writing. When we observed the first example in the mid-1990's we quickly realized that elements of the design matched parts of the J1, J2 and J6, but did not completely match any of the three. We also had 100% confidence that we could account for all official issues. Within a year, we had seen three more examples that were close to but not exactly like the ZJ1. All were mint examples that had never been sown, which was not possible from the lodge, since the patch is a limited run item and all were accounted for. We also discount the idea of a manufacturing overrun, since it DOES NOT match any of the four official issues. Shortly thereafter, we realized it DID closely match a silk screen copy of the design in full size on a t-shirt we had used for some time. We believe the t-shirt is the source for whomever reproduced the design. To-date, we have seen five examples of this patch all in the possession of reputable collectors and dealers. The exact source of the FAKE is not clear however. What we do know is that at prices ranging $200 and up, someone is profiting from the fraud. |
| Quantity Known: 5 known (Nov 2004). Characteristics: Silky texture to White twill background; Smoke Curl in lower right points upwards; Very limp pipe in hands with three points; 210x214mm apx. |
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