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WWII grenade question

C

Christof60

Member
Found a box buried in grandpas stuff that had a huge amount of WWII stuff in it.. One thing was an old pineapple grenade, in the round container. It is yellow, has no hole in the bottom, fuse is burnt. No powder inside (thank goodness)...
I am wondering if it is worth anything?

Had 3 wallets in it, stuffed with Japanese currency, most crisp and like new, a few with blood on them.. They are all obviously from prior to 1945.
Four "meatball" flags that have Japanese writing on them, in really good shape except for some silverfish holes, a couple in one and lots in the worst..
Also what appears to be an ID book (kind of like a small passport) that has a picture of a soldier in it.. Like new...
Had a Nambu Type 94 and bayonet in it too...
And the biggest shocker, a tin that when opened had a slew of teeth, gold, and silver bridges (egads Gramps.. Never mentioned that..)...

I am searching in vain trying to see if the stuff has any value, except the teeth of course, not sure what to do with that stuff..

Any help from you "pro's" would be greatly appreciated..
 
Thanks for the reply, I was also thinking about trying to somehow find a way to return the stuff to family members such as the ID, maybe even the flags if I could figure out a way to interpret the writing for names, etc...
The teeth I would never sell, not even for the value of the gold in them. Just not my style. I wonder if the Japanese embassy would even want them, not knowing exactly who they came from (although with the other stuff I know it was Japanese soldiers)..
The grenade, banknotes, pistol/bayonet are for sale for sure, maybe the flags too..

Been going through the stuff, letters, etc., and found a little notepad that interestingly had written in it the translated words from the last note written by Lt Gen Saito before he died on Saipan... Now THAT brought goosebumps to me, as I remember well the Saipan history...

The funniest part of my find was two "bumperstickers" still in wrap that were souveniers from Hawaii (pre Pearl Harbor) that had a "printed in Japan" sticker on the outside.. How cool is that?

Thanks again for your reply!
 
MKII pineapple

Your MKII pineapple grenade would be of the most value, with container and original yellow paint. If fuze is original and nice, I'm not one to quote prices but should fetch "top dollar". I would think that nostalgia and the link to gramps would keep it under your roof. Dano
 
dano1917 said:
Your MKII pineapple grenade would be of the most value, with container and original yellow paint. If fuze is original and nice, I'm not one to quote prices but should fetch "top dollar". I would think that nostalgia and the link to gramps would keep it under your roof. Dano
Click to expand...
I never had a clue that a training grenade would be worth much, would have figured the Imperial bank notes, flags, etc., would be the valuable stuff...
BTW, this "Grandpa" was my stepmothers Dad, she knew I collected knives and such, so when he passed and his estate was passed out, she thought I might be interested in his "Marine stuff".... None of us had any idea what was in the boxes, and he was known to horde junk, so I never opened them and forgot about them in the attic for over a decade... Only went thru them now preparing to move, and was tired of hauling around so much stuff... I tend to keep way too much of my own stuff too ("this may really come in handy some day" LOL)..

BTW, any Japanese money collectors out there? Are Japanese "Tanto" type knives, the kind they carried in their belts with wooden sheaths worth anything? Thanks for all the replies folks, this is a cool board..
 
THE PINEAPPLE GREN (mK2) IS NOT A TRAINING GRENADE. YELLOW WAS THE COLOUR OF LIVE GRENADES BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR. IF IT IS A VERY EARLY ONE IT SHOULD HAVE A SCREW IN THE BASE.
CAN YOU POST A PICTURE OF IT AND THE CONTAINER?
PAUL.
 
paul the grenade said:
THE PINEAPPLE GREN (mK2) IS NOT A TRAINING GRENADE. YELLOW WAS THE COLOUR OF LIVE GRENADES BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR. IF IT IS A VERY EARLY ONE IT SHOULD HAVE A SCREW IN THE BASE.
CAN YOU POST A PICTURE OF IT AND THE CONTAINER?
PAUL.
Click to expand...
Will do today... And it does have the small plug in the bottom...
 
Live fill early MKII

As Paul said, with base screw, and yellow color, would indicate an early live fill U.S. MKII. The burnt fuze may have been installed as part of the demill process. Definately want to see picture(s). Probably a very nice MKII..Dano
 
Here are a few pics of grenade....

Curious as to why I seem to have no option to post a thread in the "Classifieds" section...
I have a ton of stuff to sell.... Will post pics of all of it in the "Member Collections" thread if I can... The grenade IS for sale...
 

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Hi. Nice grenade. A friend has recovered a lot of the M10A1 fuze levers from the Guadal canal area, indicating that this type of grenade was used in the Pacific in 1942. Cheers
 
a fine ensemble

Oh yes Christof60, that is one very fine find. It is all there including container with the m10 fuze. a pretty prized uS grenade. you should have no problem offing that one. What a set. Drooling in Illinois....Dano
 
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