Auction 269: Early American Bell Tapered Shaft Candlestick - Ended 03-29-17

[TelePlay]

Less than 12 hours to go before this auction ends. the 3rd paragraph in the initial topic post states "All guesses, original and a single allowed revised guess if needed, must be submitted at least 24 hours before the auction ends."

Late guesses come in and my criteria for allowing a late guess is based on item price movement within the last 24 hours. In this case, the high bid has been $2,550 for a few days now so since no increases have been made, which would provide last second help to late guessers, all late guesses for the contest have been entered.

Haven't explained my reasoning for late guesses for some time so this contest has given me a chance to do it now. That 24 hour rule is to keep guesses from coming in 1 minute before the auction ends. 18 hours is usually no problem. Less than that, it depends on auction item activity within the last day.

With that said, we have quite a range on this phone from $3,300 to $20,000. Guess snipe time will be worth watching on this auction. Who knows where the wheel of seller fortune will stop at end time?

Good luck to all players!

[TelePlay]

And the winner of Auction Contest #269 is Jim S. who with the 3rd entry into the contest offered the winning guess of $5,850.00 to give him his 3rd win! And his second win in 5 contests so he could be on a roll. So, a big congratulations go out to Jim S. for another CRPF Auction Contest win and for moving up one rung in the Contest Standings.

Once again, a rare phone was a cliff hanger for the seller in that it rose to $2,550 in two days and stayed there until 3 hours before the end when it rose to $2,850 or so. But then there was snipe time when 5 buyers placed 5 bids within the last 9 seconds and at end time it was a bid placed by 2***7 ( 640 ) with only 5 seconds to go placed his first and only bid to take the phone home for $7,081.00. Hope the seller was sitting down when the auction ended. The phone was listed at $9.99.  The auction saw 14 bidders placing 20 bids.

Check out the updated Contest Standings to see who's who through 269 contests and the latest additions to the CRPF Hall of Fame

Thanks again to all who played. As always, there is only one way to get on the winner's board or move up a rung - you have to play to win.

[Doug Rose]

Anyone who knows me knows I love vintage telephones, no question about it! BUT 7K for a telephone!!

Even if I could afford it, no way. I do have an issue of the wood box having 4 holes for the intercom top to be screwed into the wall. It might be real, but 7K is absurd......I am too frugal (see cheap).....Doug

[19and41]

It's that old quandary of either being rich or good lookin'.  No $7k phones for me either.

[TelePlay]

I think this is a record, or at least the most snipers I've seen come forward within the last 9 seconds of the auction and their idea of market value of the phone ran from $3,300 to $7,081.

Of the FIVE snipers (most of whom I do not recognize), one snipe each was placed in the $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, $6,000 ranges and the winner at just over $7,000. And the winner at $7,081 was $100 over the second highest bidder which means that winning snipe was considerably higher than $7,081, enough to ensure winning the phone. The timing of the snipes placed was too close together for any of the bidders to "know" what the current high bid was when placing their snipe so it can be assumed that each of the snipes were individual estimates of the phone's value.

While most say "you paid what for that?" category, five people did want the phone, some much more than others. For me, it was about $7,041 over the purchase limit set by my wife for any phone, ever, if I want dinner on a regular basis.

[unbeldi]

Even if I could afford it, no way. I do have an issue of the wood box having 4 holes for the intercom top to be screwed into the wall. It might be real, but 7K is absurd......I am too frugal (see cheap).....Doug

The four holes are common to other observed switchboxes of the 'speaking tube' telephones.
The box could clearly be used as a wall set as well.

Here is Pete D'Acosta's WE 20-K, which has the identical 'speaking tube' transmitter/switch box:


Discussions:  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=17866.0