Auction 101: Rare Western Electric 130A “Donut Phone”

[TelePlay]

Just listed (and a first time ever appearance in a Forum Auction Contest) is the "rare dream phone," the elusive WE 130A Donut.  Listed with a starting price of $9.99, it got one bid almost immediately. The subset is not included in this 7 day auction.

The seller listed it as a "Telephone RARE WESTERN ELECTRIC 130A "DONUT PHONE" WALL PHONE" with the item condition as "Used" and claims "This is a Western Electric 130A, commonly called the donut phone; it is in very nice condition considering that it is over 100 years old. They were the first metal wall phones by Western Electric and are fairly rare. This one has 5 patent dates on the back plate. It is interesting that the last patent date on the back plate, Aug 16 04 is also the first patent date noted on Western Electric model 20 Candlestick phones. The receiver was painted black sometime in the past and most of that paint has since peeled off. The rest of the paint on the receiver can be removed with little effort.".

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111170473814

The bidding ends on September 22nd and it's another chance for someone to either move up a rung or to get onto the -> Contest Standings <- list, you have to play to win!

New members on the forum are always very welcome and encouraged to take a guess. After all, there are no wrong guesses, just one lucky one.

If anyone wants to see the phones that have been in past Auction Contests, click -> HERE <-.


S C O R E B O A R D

$   250.00 - Kenton K  ( 5 )
$   400.00 - Sargeguy  ( 10 )
$   450.00 - wds  ( 2 )  -> WINNER - Final Selling Price $455.00
$   500.00 - Mr. Bones  ( 1 )
$   537.00 - AE_Collector  ( 8 )
$   600.00 - kleinkaliber  ( 4 )
$   650.00 - TelePlay  ( 16 )
$   700.00 - WesternElectricBen  ( 3 )
$   760.00 - tallguy58  ( 15 )
$   800.00 - K1WI  ( 11 )
$   852.79 - Dan  ( 14 )
$   922.00 - MagicMo  ( 12 )
$1,001.01 - HarrySmith  ( 9 )
$1,100.00 - Russ Kirk  ( 7 )
$1,600.00 - tptech302  ( 6 )
$1,750.00 - southernphoneman  ( 13 )


Early Morning Auction Status Changes

9-15-13   Listed   $   9.99
9-16-13  10 bids  $251.50 ,
9-18-13  15 bids  $405.00 , ,
9-21-13  18 bids  $431.79
9-22-13  19 bids  $455.00
9-22-13  10 bidders, 19 bids $455.00  Ended 16:00:21 PDT

[Mr. Bones]

$500.00~ would be my guess...

[wds]

$450

[WesternElectricBen]

700

[kleinkaliber]

600.00

[Kenton K]

250

[tptech302]

$1600.00

[Russ Kirk]

$1100.00

[AE_Collector]

$537.

Terry

[HarrySmith]

$1001.01

[Sargeguy]

The last one of these sold for $232, but it was a sleeper.  My guess is $400

[K1WI]

$800

   Andy F   K1WI

[MagicMo]

922

[southernphoneman]

$1750.00

[Dan]

$852.79