Quality Sporrans for less money

[tuathanach]

I saw a nice used sealskin sporran on eBay UK and asked the seller if it was legal for me to buy and import into the US. He said he had sold many into the US, but if I had questions, to contact US Customs. From what I can tell, the Marine Mammal Protection Act is actually administered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, so I spent a couple of weeks trying to get a straight answer to what I thought should have been simple questions:

1. Is it legal for me to import a NEW sporran made from sealskin from
Scotland (or the UK)? (I believe the answer to this question is
"no", but it would be nice to have an authoritative statement from
someone who knows for certain.)

2. Is legal for me to import a USED sporran made from sealskin from
Scotland (or the UK)? This (in my mind, anyway) seems fuzzier.
The gentleman on eBay UK said that he thought that new articles
made from sealskin could not be imported into the US, but second
hand articles could. Is that true?

3. Is it legal for me to POSSESS any kind of sporran made from sealskin --
i.e. is the ban solely a ban on importation or is there a ban on
mere possession? (That is, if I found someone in the US who already
had a sealskin sporran, is it legal for me to buy it??)

After calling and corresponding with several people at the Fish & Wildlife Service, I finally gave up and bought a fox-fur sporran. I never could get a straight answer to *any* of these questions, not even to question #1!

Amazing! I had no idea that these were difficult questions...

[OC Richard]

Those are very good questions about the MMPA.

What I have read up on is the ban within the USA of buying, selling, or possessing ivory "worked or unworked".

The USA ban is distinct from CITES and much stricter. The USA ban isn't a law, it's an Executive Order by President Obama. I haven't heard if it has been rescinded after he left office.

It has complex rules concerning exactly what ivory articles are legal. You have to be able to document that the ivory was gathered "from the wild" before a certain date AND that it was within USA borders by a certain date AND that it was in your possession before the ban took effect.

[OC Richard]

I normally look at nice vintage sporrans but don't often pull the trigger...but I had to for this one.

The one on the left, a classic brown Day sporran with fur front, arrived today. It has the typical oval gold Made In Scotland Real Leather stamp on the back. It has the stud closure which predated the press button/snap closure usually seen nowadays. It was around $70.



(The one on the right I picked up a year or so ago.)

My favourite Day sporrans are the old style with the fur front (in brown of course) so I was chuffed to get it.

[PinellasPaul]

I see the logic in the protective laws or executive orders, to be sure.
But it doesn't seem sporting, just or moral to make it illegal to own something one may have had in one's home for decades, or family for generations. If they have, or were they to do so, it seems that there should at least be just compensation.

Please forgive me and delete my post if I have been disrespectful, provocative or inflammatory. I don't think I have been. But I don't wish to offend.

- Paul

Those are very good questions about the MMPA.

What I have read up on is the ban within the USA of buying, selling, or possessing ivory "worked or unworked".

The USA ban is distinct from CITES and much stricter. The USA ban isn't a law, it's an Executive Order by President Obama. I haven't heard if it has been rescinded after he left office.

It has complex rules concerning exactly what ivory articles are legal. You have to be able to document that the ivory was gathered "from the wild" before a certain date AND that it was within USA borders by a certain date AND that it was in your possession before the ban took effect.

[OC Richard]

...illegal to own something one may have had in one's home for decades, or family for generations...it seems that there should at least be just compensation.

With the USA ivory ban, from what I understand there's no compensation. You have to take the item in person to a government official with whatever documentation you have. After reviewing your documents they either 1) issue you a permit or 2) confiscate your item.

Now to things that ARE fully legal: here's a very nice Evening Dress sporran, the style called EW2 in the old catalogues, of bovine fur so fine to import into the USA.

Those cantles have long been made in two manners

1) made in four separate pieces, the cantle itself and the three bosses, which are held on by small nuts, silverplate, stamped Made In Scotland on the side

2) made in one piece, chrome plate, no stamp.

I don't know which this cantle is.

EDIT: I contacted the seller and the sporran has a Made In Scotland sticker on the reverse.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dress-Sporr...IAAOSwljVdjzKR

[OC Richard]

A wonderful post-WWII/late 20th century sporran: W E Scott Edinburgh in fantastic condition, with the gold oval Made In Scotland Real Leather stamp, the silverplate 5-piece cantle with Made In Scotland stamp, within the USA, and under $100.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Sil...p2056016.l4276

From a different seller, a lovely ***fur sporran within the USA, appears to be a high quality sporran though there's no stamp on the back. I've reached out to the seller to find out if the cantle is stamped on the side.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Scottish-Ki...p2056016.l4276

This one has a stamp I've not seen before. We're familiar with the Nicoll Brothers Bankfoot firm and their stamp.

This one simply says Bankfoot Sporrans, and has a goat.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lovely-Geof...temCondition=4



(Nicoll Bros Bankfoot stamp)

[DougH]

A wonderful post-WWII/late 20th century sporran: W E Scott Edinburgh in fantastic condition, with the gold oval Made In Scotland Real Leather stamp, the silverplate 5-piece cantle with Made In Scotland stamp, within the USA, and under $100.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Sil...p2056016.l4276

That is gorgeous! I may have to bid on that.

[OC Richard]

That is gorgeous! I may have to bid on that.

Yes it's a wonderful thing, the classic EW2 style, an exceptionally nice example.

But really I'm set for Evening with my thing-of-goat.

[DougH]

Yes it's a wonderful thing, the classic EW2 style, an exceptionally nice example.

But really I'm set for Evening with my thing-of-goat.

I'm quite aware, and terribly jealous. But this will serve me well I think (I bought it outright, bidding is too anxiety prone).

[PinellasPaul]

Procured the aforementioned Bankfoot Sporran. Sadly, no goat included.

That is about the nicest looking sporran that I have seen, to my eye.

Thank you OC Richard for bringing so many fine used sporrans to our attention!

- Paul

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