These ships measure 7″x 2″. I do not know if these were sold individually or as part of a set as they are labeled “Coast Guard” not “Coast Defense” and differ in design from all of the other C-4 ships.
From my private collection.
Keystone C4 U.S. Coast Guard Ships
I’m happy to have found your terrific website. I enjoy collecting Coast Guard toys and picked up what I think is a Keystone Coast Guard boat. However, my toy says only “Coast Guard” without the “C4.” Just thought I’d share… Mark
Mark,
Thank you for the kind words. Is it similar to the C-4 ships that I have or different in design? I would like to see a photo of what you have.
Derrick
It is nearly identical to the C4 Coast Guard boats featured on your site. I’ll be happy to send a photo. Is there a way to attach it to this style of message, or would you like to provide a separate email address? Mark
Since posting above, I found a photo of yet a 3rd variant. It is stenciled “C4. U.S. COAST GUARD.” similar to the examples you picture above. However, rather than having the foward gun mounted on its own pedestal just like the rear gun, this toy’s forward gun is fixed to the front of the central superstructure with the searchlight on top. I guess it is safe to say that the toy evolved over time and was made over a number of production runs. I never did encounter the “Coast Guard” variant in the great catalogs you show on your site, but it’s a little difficult to see all the ship’s details in the fleet sets.
Hello again Mark,
If you have what I think you do then there are some on the website. They are not as thick in the depth of the hull. These came with the costal defense forts that are also on the site.
Derrick
The hulls are very similar in design to the boats above, just a bit more tapered at the stern. I looked at the Coastal Defense sets again, and these simpler Coast Guard toys very well may be associated with those lines of toys, especially the ones featured in the
1942-’43 catalog. These Coast Guard toys clearly don’t shoot shells like other more complex offerings. I didn’t see any exact matches in the Coast Defense Forts or in the Fleet sets, but certainly agree those lines are the most likely candidates.
Mark,
Send me a photo, collectingkeystone@gmail.com.
Derrick
I have a Coast Guard boat like the two boats in your photo. I was curious about the years these were manufactured. My boat will be part of a Coast Guard toy display at the Coast Guard Heritage museum in Barnstable Massachusetts. Thank you.
Mike
Hello Mike,
Those boats usually came in fleet sets. They were made during the war years. I have catalogs through 1943 and then a gap until 1950. So I do not know if they were made after the war for a period of time.
Derrick
When I looked at the “Confirmed Keystone Model Numbers” on the website, it seems to indicate that a Coast Guard boat appeared in a 1928 Jacrim Invoice, as well as a 1931 Jacrim Order Sheet and Jacrim Invoice. It also indicates that a Coast Guard boat was identified as Model 56 on these 1928 & 1931 Jacrim documents, and also as Model 55 in 1931 on the Jacrim document. A different 15″ long “Coastguard” boat apparently appears as Model 193 in the 1933 Keystone Manufacturing catalog. And finally, a “Shooting Battleship (C-5 U.S. Coast Guard) appears as Model 155 in the 1941-42 Keystone Manufacturing catalog. The U.S. Coast Guard boat I own is 9 inches long, longer than the examples shown above, so I continue to wonder when it might have been produced and sold… I guess it’s safe to say that the U.S. Coast Guard boat evolved and changed over a number years of production.
Hello Mark,
You are correct in that there were several different ships with the Coast Guard name over the years. The Jacrim ships were actual ships where the Keystone ones became more of a boat. Send me a picture of yours and I might be able to better identify it for you. Send the photo to collectingkeystone@gmail.com.
Derrick