1.
The first pins of the society looked much like the emblem of the society. They did not have “T.N.E.” on the forehead.

2.
This second version of the oldest pin is in the Douglas Collection of fraternal pins in San Francisco. The color variation is in the photographs.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

3.
This pin was from Cornell University in Class of 1891. The cranium is somewhat pointy, but the most exceptional feature of the pin is its toothy grin. It looks very happy. This is also the oldest example of jeweled eyes, in this case being opals.

4.
This pin and the following three are examples of pins manufactured by the Newman company, and are the first standardized pins used by the society. The oldest examples have opal eyes. Newman pins tend to date from 1890 to 1920, generally speaking. This pin is from Colgate University, and belonged to M.W.W. of the class of 1893.

5.
The Newman pins are typically found at the older, legitimate chapters. This version has green eyes and belonged to E. L. Bragg of the Class of 1907 of the Alpha Chapter at Wesleyan.

6.
The noses of Newman pins have a very distinctive look; something of a half hickory-nut. Pins developed with green, red, and one-red and one-green eye. It appears that these color variations were intended to mark different branches of the society, (the Pi-Omicron wing and the Alpha-Beta Southern wing). Despite the inappropriateness of it, the red-green motif later came to be used everywhere.

7.
Another unusual aspect of the Newman pins is that the wards of the keys were (improperly) flipped up, a feature that continued in later pins. The errors of Newman’s pins became permanent fixtures of Theta Nu Epsilon pin design.

8.
This pin and the next four are similar to Newman pins but are each distinctly different. They are very likely to have been used by illegitimate chapters who asked a local jeweller to copy an official Newman pin.

9.
This pin has a rudimentary Newman nose, and looks very much like a less skilful copy of a Newman pin.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

10.
This pin dates to the class of 1903, and is probably a copy of a Newman pin made by a chapter not in amity with the main part of the society. The key wards are down, which may or may not show an attempt to be more accurate.

11.
Just by visual appearance, this is clearly an early pin, based on the jeweling and the very simple style of the keys. This conclusion is confirmed by secondary sources. The odd texture of the pin is unusual. It was manufactured by Roehm & Son, Jeweler, of Detroit, and may well have been produced for a Michigan or Ohio chapter.

12.
The Delta Chapter at Cornell also developed unique chapter pins.

13.
This pin is unlike all others, but is very similar to a known printed version of the emblem, and probably was made in imitation of that. This is from Cornell, and may date from 1900 to 1910.

14.
This is an exceptional pin, showing excellent workmanship. Both the keys and the teeth are well-rendered.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

15.
This pin is from some independent chapter. The unusual sparkly surface makes it unique.

16.
This is another good, serviceable pin, dating from the turn of the century. The red and green eyes, may suggest an illegitimate chapter, but by this point, all pin manufacturers had Theta Nu Epsilon pins, and sold them indiscriminately among all chapters. This and the following three pins may well have been made by Edwards, Haldeman & Co. in Detroit, who supplied Western chapters.

17.
This pin is almost identical to the one above, but for the use of small rivets to hold in the eyes. Note that in the above pin, the red and green glass in the eyes is held in place with four nicks in the metal. Pins from the 1930’s, 40’s, and later, have tiny rivets holding in the ‘jewels’. This pin may therefore be not as old as its pair above.

18.
These next two pins are similar to the ones above, but seem to have a less clearly defined ridge about the nasal cavity. One suspects the simplicity is traceable to a desire to have the pin be more modern looking.

19.
This pin, similar to the one above, came from the University of Kansas for the Class of 1930.

20.
There are a number of smaller styles of pins. Miniature pins were used to save cost or were given as gifts to a girlfriend.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

21.
Smaller pins had less detail and often have an odd appearance. (Most full-sized pins are slightly larger than half an inch tall, smaller pins can be half the normal size.)

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

22.
Minature pins also could be used as charms in other contexts.

23.
This pin and its companion below are exceptionally ugly. It is not known where they were produced or what chapter(s) used them.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

24.
The small rivets holding in the jewels are exceptionally prominent. This makes for a very odd-looking pin. Both this pin and the above are examples of a cheaply made pin, probably manufactured for an independent chapter.

25.
Another pair of pins, and similarly flawed; this example is another inelegant pin, mis-designed in such a way to focus attention on the rivets around the eyes. This looks more like the front end of a Ford Edsel than a human skull.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

26.
This pin is clearly similar to the above one, although the teeth are less realistic. The keys here are in a different position as well. Lastly, here the eyes are both red, instead or red and green.

27.
The poor quality of manufacture here indicates this may have been for a rogue chapter without financial resources.

28.
This unusual pin is apparently made of some alloy, and is entirely without jeweling or enameling. However the basic design is successful. The approach to the teeth is unusual. Probably a very cheap pin to make, and probably used by an exceptionally tenuous chapter.

29.
This pin and the next three are in the very distinctive design used by Balfour in the 1920’s and 30’s. The elongated forehead, flat in front, was probably based on the printed emblem of the society, (nicknamed the “Lon Chaney” skull). (See “Emblems”.) Balfour also, less than artistically, connected the two keys to the skull with a recessed triangle of metal below the jaw. The Balfour pins are probably the most common seen by collectors today.

30.
This version has a short chain to a Pi, indicating it was for the Pi chapter at Penn State.

31.
After many years of painstaking research, we finally found the modern descendant of the Balfour pin....

32.
...“Bender” of Futurama.

33.
This is probably not a Balfour pin, but a close copy for a rogue chapter.

34.
This equally strange pin was produced by the J.O. Pollack company.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

35.
This is a good example of the “standard” pin of the 1920’s and 30’s. The cranium is particularly bulbous and elongated. The eyes are red and green, and the teeth are represented by small ‘seed’ pearls. In the 1920’s a pin like this could cost nearly ten dollars.

36.
This pin is another example of the style shown immediately above. The color variation is in the photographs.

37.
This modern pin is closer to the original design, but does show some concessions to contemporary jewelry manufacturing.

38.
This pin was designed by Burr, Paterson & Auld around 1927. Eventually the pattern mold was transferred to Balfour, and this is the current pin they make today.

The skull is highly simplified, and the detail in the keys is entirely lacking. It is not an exceptionally attractive pin.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

39.
This pin is like the pin above, but is enhanced with seed pearl teeth and jewelled eyes.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

40.
This pin is from the Alpha Sigma chapter. It is an exceptionally finely wrought pin.

41.
Another Alpha Sigma chapter pin, of as fine craftsmanship as the older pin above. It was owned by W. J. Laughton of the Class of 1900.

42.
The Lambda Lambda chapter indicated its allegiances clearly. There is still a trace of the distinctive Newman pin hickory-nut nose.

43.
This pin is from the Chi Chi Chi society, which appears to have been a former legitimate chapter. The addition of the hand is a clear difference from all other designs. This pin has a somewhat stylized, but very successful skull,

44.
This is a very simple, basic pin, used by an illegitimate Delta Chi chapter at the University of Oklahoma.

45.
This pin is from a former chapter that adopted a wavy line as a symbol, (some have referred to this as the ~ Chapter).

46.
The W.B.G.H. society was still a Theta Nu Epsilon descendant, if only clear from the color of their eyes.

47.
This is a highly affordable pin from the Theta Rho chapter at Duke University.

48.
One chapter re-constituted itself as Pi Tau Iota, but one can still see the Skull & Keys of Theta Nu Epsilon in the center of the Maltese cross.

49.
The obvious society linked to Theta Nu Epsilon is Skull & Bones; a society we are seperate from, but historically related to. This is a recent Skull & Bones pin.

50.
The “Black Skull” or Alpha Iota Epsilon Fraternity was founded during the year 1890 in Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn, N. Y. It had chapters in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The similarities to the pin of Theta Nu Epsilon are suggestive.

51.
The Omicron Mu Delta society may have been a seperate society or an independent chapter. The snake is a complex addition, but may also suggest medical studies.

52.
The Beta Sigma Iota had an elaborate pin which may show some relation to Theta Nu Epsilon.

From the Douglas Collection of Fraternal Insignia, San Francisco.

53.
Psi Gamma Gamma had crossed pens instead of crossed keys. it may or may not have had some historical relation to Theta nu Epsilon.

54.
Sigma Theta Chi had a Skull & Bones on the upper part of its pin. That combined with the mismatched red and green eyes, strongly suggest a relationship to Theta Nu Epsilon in its past.

55.
This is apparently the pin of the G society. It was made from inferior metals.

We have nothing to do with the Kappa Kappa Kappa society. The coincidence has led paranoid speculators to believe there were Ku Klux Klan based Theta Nu Epsilon chapters. We take such speculation as an insult to Theta Nu Epsilon and the character of the admirable ladies’ society of Indiana. We only present some examples of their pins here to prevent confusion.

56.
This pin and the following four items come from the Kappa Kappa Kappa society of Indiana. This early Kappa Kappa Kappa society pin has two red eyes, and shows that the Kappa Kappa Kappa society eyes went through the same progression of eye color as the Theta Nu Epsilon pins did.

57.
This is a Kappa Kappa Kappa pin from about 1910. The Kappa Kappa Kappa Society has pins with red and green eyes as well.

58.
Another example of the same.

59.
This would have been the pin of a Kappa Kappa Kappa chapter president.

60.
This is the end of a Kappa Kappa Kappa hat pin. This unusual item had the emblem added to the flat surface; it is a very interesting Skull & Keys design.