WE Med Blue 500 found in the wild

[AE40FAN]

I'll try my best to be as brief as possible with this story.  Yesterday evening I had to bring a co-worker to her fathers place to pick up her dog.  Her father lives in a house built in 1948.  He had lived there for only a few years and their was only one previous owner.  A 92 year old woman who passed away during that time.  Anyways, many pieces of furniture and other original items were sold with the house.  Including a very large vintage GE stove.  The discussion began on his restoration of the stove and how many man hours it took to clean it.  Somehow we got on the subject of phones and he mentioned how the previous owner had left a green desk phone behind that was probably from the 60's.    I was shocked to see that when he pulled it out of the back of a closet that it was not at all green but, a med. blue 55' WE 500 with matching grey cords!    I had to be honest and I let the gentleman know what he had.  All dates match 10/55 with a -57 stamped on bottom.  Unfortunately, phone has faded to a blue green color, there is a small break in the handset cord(which can most likely be repaired), and I believe ear piece may be stained.   Her father left the phone in my possession as I said I'd try to clean it up to make it look a little nicer.  He is hoping to sell it as he has no interest in it.  I figured I'd post it here and get your opinions on how much you might think he could get for this?  I have not cleaned it yet.

[WesternElectricBen]

Very awesome!

Maybe 200 dollars, on the mid price side in its current condition. Or even a lot more, just about everybody loves that color.

Ben

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I think I love med blue more than anyone else! Very, very nice find!

[Dave203]

I think I love med blue more than anyone else! Very, very nice find!

I second that. Med blue looks like the most beautiful color. I need one for my collection one day. I think you could get a hundred bucks or more if it was cleaned up. If I could afford it I'd easily offer a hundred bucks for it as is but I'm not allowed to buy any phones at the moment

[AE40FAN]

I just want to see this go to a good home.  I figured I'd ask here first as I don't really want to try with Ebay.  Cords alone should get people interested.  Even with the break on the handset cord.  It is only a partial break and in the inner side of the coil.  Glue or epoxy should do the trick.  I'll clean it up and post after pics.   Biggest flaw is the fade.