July 13-15, 2021 Collectible Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/15/2021
World War II US Navy Escape and Evasion "Barter Kit" that was issued to pilots and air crew in case they had to bail out over enemy territory. These World War II barter kits were auctioned off in February 1980 when the US Department of Defense discovered a surplus of them in their inventory. The rubber case reads "If Found Return To / ComNavAirLant (CNAL 34) / Norfolk, Virginia" on either side. This case is numbered "896" on the exterior. Included in the auction is a photocopy of the original 1980 US Department of Defense auction information that lists variants of contents that these kits continued. There were 2 versions of this kit that were distributed during the war, one is the Atlantic kit and the other is the Far East Asia kit. This particular sealed example is accompanied by an example photo of the contents that are contained in the Atlantic barter kits. The Atlantic kits consisted of 5 gold coins and 3 gold rings. The kit was weighed and the overall weight is 10.6 oz. According to the accompanying documents, each Atlantic kit contains approximately .90 troy ounces of fine gold per kit including .75 troy ounces for coins and .15 troy ounces for rings. CONDITION: The rubber case displays scratches and blemishes and there are no breaks in the seal. Overall very good. JLD