I found an old putter with a wood shaft badly rusted. After cleaning the blade the letters J E M appeared and an insignia which appears to be a lion in an erect position . Addtionally the edge had the number 5 also appeared the note hand forged. Any indication as to it's origin or history will be greatly appreciated. Thank you,
Sal Brancato

Dale Concannon writes:

First the bad news. Despite what you may have heard about vast sums being paid at auction for antique golf clubs, less than 10% of all wooden-shafted clubs are worth more than £10! The reason is simple — Like today, most clubs were produced in huge numbers to cater for the golfing boom of the early 1900's. And while the vast majority of them have disappeared over the years, there are still countless hickory shafted golf clubs still in existence.

Today, the vast majority of hickory clubs made between 1900 and 1930 are only worth between £5-£10 for irons and £10-£20 for woods. Of course, similar clubs are offered for sale at vastly inflated prices in antique shops etc. but this is the figure most collectors would pay for them at auction. As for those early steel-shafted clubs dating from the 1930's and 1940's with shafts made to look like 'cane' or 'wood' they currently have little value above £5. Therefore, the simple truth is that most 'antique' clubs found gathering dust in the attic or picked up at flea market or boot fairs are sadly, not going to make your fortune. That said, there are always exceptions.

So how can you tell if your club/s are in the common bracket? Made between 1900 and 1932, this usually applies to any golf club that:

• Has any marking on the striking face such as lines, dots or dashes. (Pre-1900 clubs had no face markings to impart spin.)

• Has a symbol or 'cleek 'mark denoting the company who made it stamped on the back of the head like an anvil or star for example.

• Has metal-caps at the end of the grip or thin Black leather grips.

• Has yardage ranges stamped on the back (80-125-yds for example).

• Has a stainless steel or chromed head stamped 'rustless.' or 'matched set.'

• Has a metal or aluminium shaft that is coated or painted to look like 'cane' or 'wood'.

As for your particular golf club/s:

As you have probably guessed by now, your putter is fairly commonplace. For reference, the LION mark was the marketing emblem of clubmaker, C. BRAND of CARNOUSTIE around the turn of the century. It was also used around 1920 by the Professional Golfers Association under the name of their buying organisation, the PGCA. As for JEM that could be the initials of the original owner.