Some very rare WV fishing license pinback badges

[Mike N]

My son Eddie and I collect vintage fishing license pinback badges from many of the states that issued them, particularly from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. We have approximately 75 vintage pre-WW II WV pinbacks and a similar number of PA state badges going back over 100 years. Among the toughest to find are WV badges (issued from 1934 to 1940 only) specifically for female anglers and non-resident tourist and “special” issues. Eddie just added the rarest one I’ve ever seen, a special 1940 non-resident badge which gave the fisherman the privilege to fish the mighty Ohio River. The river is owned by the State of West Virginia since our state broke off from Virginia, one of the original 13 colonies, during the Civil War. Here are a few photos of part of our collection. Behind the badge “window” is a fragile paper license with the angler’s name, address, occupation and other personal identifiers such as hair and eye color, age etc.

[john elder]

Great collection and display, Mike! Probably the best part is the joint effort with your son!