I have an original RAF Coastal Command ‘Irvin’ jacket that I’m thinking of selling. (Other photos if you click left of the linked one.) I think it’s about a size 38 (too small for me), and all of the zippers need to be replaced. The thing that makes the Coastal Command Irvins different is that instead of a ‘shawl’ collar, the collar is a yellow-painted hood. The idea was that it would keep you warmer in cold water, and would be easier to see.
Anyway, does anyone have an idea how much I could sell it for?
I understand a common method of sizing is the number of inches across the shoulder seams. I’ll have to measure it when I think of it again (which will probably be soon, since there’s now a thread about it).
I don’t remember any Coastal Command Irvins in The Great Escape. Since the pilots were shot down over Europe, it’s more likely they’d be wearing the more-common, non-hooded Irvins.
That’s what I was thinking of asking for mine. Looks like the one in the link is a later model, but I’m not sure. I think the leather on mine looks better than the leather on the one in the link.
Some depends on how much time you want to spend selling it and if you really care where it goes. I shot a couple e-mails around some friends who deal militaria seriously and their call is $300-400 for a fairly fast sale (possibly to someone who is just going to fix it enough to wear it to death) or more around $600-800 if you want to wait a year trying to find the right collector. I’m in the same boat with a huge collection of Soviet stuff and considering the same options so I wish you much luck.
That sounds extremely low, as reproductions (no Coastal Command ones that I know of) start at $395. That price would definitely be a fast sale for an original, especially for a Coastal Command!
That needs work; professional work. Especially if you are restoring it rather than just fixing it up to wear to Bike Night at the old Quaker Steak. Its like with an old car or anything; once I own it how much more green is it going to eat? Maybe in person you see something I don’t in the pictures and YMMV (I call “fast” about a month with as little effort on my part as possible) but I asked around and that was what I got for you.
Here’s one that sold this week for U.S. $227 out of England. No hood.
You can ask big money but they don’t sell. The one that sold for about $1000 had one bid and was from the Ukraine. First off I don’t trust things that only get one bid.
It needs zippers, and the belt needs stitching. Granted, authentic zips can be expensive, but the work is minor. I was going to make the jacket a ‘wearer’ (not for me), but didn’t. By not altering it, I haven’t made it lose any value.
Coastal Command jackets are somewhat hard to find. I found this one for £650 (about $850). Chimera linked to one earlier for $800, and I found another one for $1,175. A new reproduction (which I’ve only now discovered exists) is £750/$975. Original non-Coastal Command jackets are more common, and many sell for less. And of course, most of the reproductions are relatively inexpensive. I appreciate your asking around. I’d like to know where the respondents are finding original Coastal Command jackets so cheap.
That’s a non-authentic reproduction (note the pockets). From what I’ve seen, that’s about the going rate for those.
