Quality Sporrans for less money

[OC Richard]

WE Scott fairly recent sporran with "G" cantle, looks like silverplate with quite a bit of the plating worn off.

The seller says "rabbit", I think it's a higher-grade fur.

$40 and here in the USA.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37615546551...Bk9SR9zayp3FZQ

[OC Richard]

This is a gorgeous c1910-c1940 cantle but a well-worn seal body, from Rowans Glasgow.

If it were an adult size sporran it might go for hundreds of pounds, but it appears to be child size.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/30623803782...Bk9SR97ayp3FZQ

[User]

WE Scott fairly recent sporran with "G" cantle, looks like silverplate with quite a bit of the plating worn off.

The seller says "rabbit", I think it's a higher-grade fur.

$40 and here in the USA.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37615546551...Bk9SR9zayp3FZQ

I purchased it. Thanks!
Now I need to figure out how I want to address the wear on the cantle plating.

[OC Richard]

I purchased it. Thanks!
Now I need to figure out how I want to address the wear on the cantle plating.

Cool!

I don't think I've ever seen a cantle with the plating in a condition like that.

I wonder is what the metal underneath is.

In the old days, I would say at least from the 1840s up until around 1960, "Highland Ornaments" were generally made of 'German silver' AKA 'nickel silver' AKA 'cupro-nickel'. They'd be left plain, or silver plated.

If some, or even most, of the plating wore off it wouldn't be apparent when the item was polished up.

Then at some point, I think in the late 1950s or perhaps 1960s, they changed to brass underneath and nickel-plating the items.

Later yet they began chrome-plating things, rather nasty in my opinion.

[jsrnephdoc]

I often mention that I'm dismayed when people with little money to spend on their Highland Dress settle for low-quality Pakistani sporrans, when for the same price sporrans made in Scotland, or by L&M in Canada, of the highest quality, can be had for the same price.

We have great people here on XMarks, and great shops, that offer quality sporrans and my intention is not to take away their business.

My intention is to point out times when quality sporrans can be had at low prices, sometimes under $20, often under $50, often under $100. So people on a tight budget need not forgo quality.

I see them all the time on Ebay. Yes Ebay has its faults, and it has its haters. Yes Ebay IMHO favours sellers to some extent. However a smart Ebay buyer can build a high-quality outfit for little money, and what is bad about that? (Well now somebody will probably tell me.) Personally, nearly all of my Highland kit has been acquired on Ebay, quality sporrans, jackets, hose, shoes, etc got for little money.

Ebay buyers must beware! Check the seller's feedback, though feedback doesn't tell the whole story. I look at the item itself, and also get a "feel" about the seller.

I'll focus on traditional Day Dress and Evening Dress sporrans as worn with traditional civilian Highland Dress.

For today I'll start with a sporran ending soon, what has every appearance of being a quality Scottish-made sporran for around $10. Yes there's shipping, which varies upon where in the world the buyer lives.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Scottish-Lea...oAAOSwugtZ08m9

I'm in the dark as to why, but every one of the links I tried took me to an eBay page saying that the link didn't work. Obviously other readers of your post have not had that experience. I'm wondering if anyone has any idea why they don't work for me. The one thing I tried (which didn't help) was replacing the <http://> with <https://>

Maybe it's my browser. I'm on a Mac and using Safari. I refuse to use Chrome.

[User]

I'm in the dark as to why, but every one of the links I tried took me to an eBay page saying that the link didn't work. Obviously other readers of your post have not had that experience. I'm wondering if anyone has any idea why they don't work for me. The one thing I tried (which didn't help) was replacing the <http://> with <https://>

Maybe it's my browser. I'm on a Mac and using Safari. I refuse to use Chrome.

EBay deletes old listings. Try the most recent links and see if those work for you.

[jsrnephdoc]

EBay deletes old listings. Try the most recent links and see if those work for you.

Thanks! That explains it. I mistakenly tried to link to items listed in one of the first posts in this VERY long thread, which was a LONG time ago in the age of social media