[Dianne60]

I have a flag that is very old looking that have Valley Forge Co stamped on it with black ink. It has the words Spring Penn and another stamped number I think. It was purchased at a estate sale. It has the first star with double blue cloth sewed and the entire flag is sewed together. The person at the estate sale said it belonged to her 96 year old grandfather who was in the army. How do you determine the age of this flag? Is it a collectible?

[csaanv]

Hi Dianne60,
Welcome to the American Flag Forum! I hope I can help you. To answer your questions about your flag, first I would need a little more information about the flag. Here are the standard questions:
1. How many stars does the flag have? This can determine the general period which the flag was made.
2. Are the stars printed or appliqued onto the canton of the flag? Applique stars are usually preferred over printed or embroider stars and can help us with age of the flag.
3. What material is the flag made from? Cotton, Silk, or Wool bunting? Again it can help us with dating and determine if it is a government issue flag.
4. How large is your flag? 3' x 5' or 5' x 9.' 5", etc. It is important to get as accurate measurement as possible as this will tell us if the flag is a civilian made or government issue flag which is worth more in most cases.
5. What is the overall condition of the flag? Some moth holes are normal and acceptable with age. Stains and tears and rips can take away some value.
6. If possible a picture is worth a thousand words. If you want to send me a photo I can prep it to post on the forum. My email is emmalpass(at)yahoo(dot)com.
I hope we can help you.
Cheers!

[Robin Hickman]

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Hello, Dianne60 !

Welcome to the USA-Flag-Site Forums !


If you want to get a quick "ballpark" figure on the relative "market value" of your U.S. Flag, try doing a search on eBay.

First do a simple search followed up with a "completed listings" search.

The simple search will let you know how many current listings there are and the "completed listings" search will let you know the results for that search for the previous 15 days or so.

The "completed listings" search will let you know what sold and what did not AND (most importantly) their prices.

A few minutes ago I did the two searches on eBay using the search terms (without the quotation marks) "48 Star Flag".

eBay listings for "48 Star Flag" :
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1311&_nkw=48+star+f lag&_sacat=See-All-Categories

eBay COMPLETED LISTINGS for "48 Star Flag" :
http://completed.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=48+star+flag&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=S ee-All-Categories&_okw=48+star+flag&_oexkw=&_adv=1&LH_Com plete=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=20 0&_fpos=Zip+code&_fsct=&LH_SALE_CURRENCY=0&_sop=10 &_dmd=1&_ipg=200&_rdc=1


The completed listings can tell you what sold and at what price. The prices listed in GREEN are the ones that SOLD and the ones in RED did NOT sell.The photos and item descriptions can give you a pretty good idea as to the size, shape and condition of each Flag, not to mention the Flag's material and construction details.

Depending on condition, "vintage" or "antique" 3'x5' 48-Star Flags can sell for anywhere from $5.00 to over $50.00, and larger ones can go for proportionally more. If the Flag comes in its original box, then that will add to its value.

I hope that helps you a little bit!


Thank you for bringing your Flag-related question to our Forums !!!


Robin Hickman
Eugene, Oregon, USA
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[csaanv]

Hi Dianne,
Just from the information that you gave, I think you have a burial or coffin flag that is usually given to the family of deceased veterans. Using the Valley Forge stamp as a point of reference it is most likely a post WWII manufactured flag. Taking the steps that Robin has given is a great way to get a ball park figure of the flag's worth on the open market. If indeed this is a burial flag you have a wonderful banner that was made with quality that you don't see today. Unfortunately today's flags are mostly machine made with many short cuts taken to save money.
Cheers!