Featured antique gold pin

Any ideas what this (Chinese?) symbol is? It looks like an antique fraternity pin that usually would have Greek symbols. I believe 10k..

Antique gold pin by Dmb posted Dec 22, 2019 at 10:38 PM

 

No markings on back other than an etched name (fraternity?). I’ll get a pic tomorrow. Thx!

 

maybe the pin is marked....really small...

 

Pretty sure that isn't a Chinese character.

 

Any ideas?

 

Here’s the back side

 

Well, the surname of the person to whom it was issued was Pierce. The first name is blocked by the pin, but if you undo the pin you should be able to see name. I think it is likely that extreme wear has defaced the Greek letters on the front. One of them was a Z (Zeta), but what other(s) were there is a mystery.

 

So we now see that the back is marked with someone's name. Ted Pierce. That makes it more likely to be a fraternity pin and not a sorority pin. Knowing the orientation of the pin would help us read the letters. Here's a list of national fraternities. Could also be local.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_fraternities_and_sororities#Fraternities

Debora

 

I just shot a pic with my magnifier. Doesn't look like any fading with letters. A friend told me that this symbol was pronounced pee in Chinese and means "great" or "big". Ive yet to find validity in this.

 

I think your friend was pulling your leg.

 

Is that the correct orientation of your pin? Or are we looking at it sideways? Upside down?

Debora

 

Easily verifiable.

Big or great in Chinese:
大
Dà

Nah.

Debora