Prices of 1935 NJ Shoulder Arcs
I just fielded an e-mail from a friend asking about the value/price of the shoulder arcs from the 1935 National Jamboree. These were the first “JSPs”, i.e., jamboree shoulder patches.
Each troop had their own arc. The Roman numerals indicated the region. The capital letter indicated the sub-camp. The number indicated the troop. They are made of red felt with white printing. Quite often these can be found unused because the jamboree was canceled but also many have moth holes from their storage over the years. Each participant got two badges.
These used to be a consistent $125 in price. Then they went to $225. Now they seem to be consistently in the $280 – $380 range. They are truly scarce. It used to be that folks collected just one for their jamboree collection. Now there are several that are trying to put region sets together, i.e., one from each region. And, there are a few that are going gonzo trying to get one from every troop! It makes sense though as we collect JSPs from every council for most of the modern jamborees so why wouldn’t some collect the shoulder arcs the same way. If this trend continues, then these could well be underpriced. But also, this is for a very sophisticated and well heeled collector to go after these that completely.
on June 19th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Prices of the 1935 National Jamboree shoulder arcs and the 1937 National Jamboree shoulder tabs are actually higher than you state. In spring of 2006, I sold my region 7 shoulder arc and tab collection (1935/37). Nearly all of the tabs and arcs were in mint condition. I had collected them by buying nearly every one that I had seen available since 1973, when I started collecting all Region 7 items of all types. I had 14 different 1935 arcs from region 7, and 17 different 1937 shoulder tabs from region 7. Total selling price was a cash sale with no negotiation for $15,500. The sale was from a knowledgeable seller (me) to a very knowledgeable buyer, so both of us had eyes wide open on this transaction.
I doubt that anyone has ever put together that many tabs and arcs from a single region before. I have certainly have not seen more than a couple from the same region at any given show. The other trick is to find and collect only the mint ones.
Chris Jensen
http://www.streamwood.net