Auction 275: WE Mahogany Brown 500 - Ended 04-30-17

[TelePlay]

New forum members are very welcome and encouraged to take a guess. After all, there are no wrong guesses, just one lucky one. No one knows the winning bid on any auction until it ends. However, it is important to get your guess in before someone else grabs your guess.

Listed about 2 days ago in a 7 day auction with no reserve and starting at $74.99 is a very nice and rare to eBay Mahogany (brown) soft plastic WE 500 C/D with near matching dates around 6-56. The seller provided very good internal and external pictures. Other than one noted (by the seller) slight "ding" on the edge of the soft center finger wheel between the finger stop and the number 1, the plastics are in excellent condition. Since being listed, the phone has received 1 bid from 1 buyer so the phone will sell. The difficulty to capture dark brown in images and not have it look black may be causing some potential buyers from seeing the color in a quick glance and passing it over. I had that problem until looking close after reading the description. It should go higher but the question is once again, who best knows what this phone will sell for when the auction ends?

NOTE:  We will use a $5 gap rule between guesses to prevent crowding. As such, keep your guess at least $5 away from prior guesses for this contest. All guesses, original and a single allowed revised guess if needed, must be submitted at least 24 hours before the auction ends.

The seller listed it as an "1956 Western Electric Model 500D - Mahogany (Brown) Rotary Dial Telephone" with the item condition as "Used" and " - - - " and with the auction listing description saying "For your consideration is this Western Electric Model 500 D "soft plastic" rotary dial telephone.  The color is Mahogany (Brown).  As telephone collectors know, Mahogany was only produced for a couple of years and was discontinued in 1957.  Because of the short production life, this color is difficult to find.  I am offering this phone for sale on behalf of a friend that has been a long-time collector.  I am in possession of the telephone and I took the photos that you see here. -- In addition to taking photos of the phone I have cleaned and polished the plastic.  I used Novus2 to polish the plastic. Nothing artificial has been done to the plastic.  It has NOT been sanded or altered from its original condition.  I also cleaned the tightly coiled handset cord and "under the hood" of the phone.  The accompanying photos accurately depict the very nice condition of this telephone.  There are some signs of use on the plastic as one would expect from a telephone that is nearly 61 years old.  There are no cracks however there are a couple of tiny dings on the left side edge, (on the right as you look at the photos).  I have tried to show those marks in my photos.  In addition there are a few light scratches but nothing that detracts from this beautiful Mahogany Vintage Rotary Phone. -- This phone appears to have been manufactured in June of 1956 with dates from both May and June of that year, which is not uncommon.    As you can see from the photo collage that I have posted, the dated parts are obvious.  Beginning with the bottom date you can see the date of 6/56.  Also on the bottom is a "service" date stamp of 1157 (S-1157).  Usually one can find which part of the phone was serviced by the date on the replacement part, if a part were replaced.  I was unable to find any part date other than May or June of 1956. -- The T1 transmitter element is dated 6-25-56, the U-1 receiver element is undated with the exception of the engraved (stamped) date of 6-56.  The coiled handset cord strain relief is dated 56.  The network and C4A ringer are both dated 6-56.  The 7C dial is dated 5-56 and is stamped with the color suffix of -54, which is Mahogany.  The handset shell is dated 5-56.  One of the handset caps is dated 5-56 and the other 6-56.  The housing date is 6-22-56 2.  As lore goes, the "2" represents the second shift at the plant the day this housing came down the line. -- On the open center finger wheel you can see a small "flea bite" on one edge.  I have used an arrow to point to the ding. Under the original celluloid disc is an original (not a reproduction) dial card.  Referring back to the photo of the bottom of the phone you will see that the suede foot pads are in good condition and not torn. -- The phone is missing the mounting cord. I connected a modular line cord to the phone and tested it on my POTS (plain old telephone service) telephone line.  The phone dialed the desired number correctly and also rang loudly when called.  I removed the modular cord but if the winning bidder would like the gray, flat modular cord attached to the phone I will gladly put the cord on the phone before shipping. -- This is a very nice example of an early Mahogany Western Electric telephone made for the Bell System.  If this is a color that has eluded you for your telephone collection, now is your chance to add a very nice example.  I have begun the listing at a modest price with No Reserve.  The auction will run for seven days. -- As everyone probably knows, todays VoIP phone systems do not all support pulse dialing.  If one has an old-fashioned telephone line the phone will work as it did back in 1956.  Some phone lines today do support pulse dialing, some do not.  Check with your phone company if this is important to you."

http://www.ebay.com/itm/192166795173

It's another chance to move up a rung or to get onto the CRPF -> Contest Standings <- list,

     . . . for as twocvbloke said,   ---> "You gotta be in it to win it !!!" "

If you want to see the phones of past Auction Contests, click -> HERE <-


S C O R E B O A R D

$  150.00 - Brinybay  ( 1 )
$  225.00 - Sargeguy  ( 15 )
$  251.00 - wds  ( 16 )
$  265.00 - compubit  ( 17 )
$  280.95 - WEBellSystemChristian  ( 12 )
$  300.00 - tallguy58  ( 13 )
$  335.00 - Jim S.  ( 6 )
$  340.00 - 19and41  ( 2 )  -> WINNER - Final Selling Price $340.88
$  357.00 - Russ Kirk  ( 7 )
$  365.00 - JimH  ( 8 )
$  385.00 - nolan613  ( 10 )
$  395.00 - Autonut  ( 11 )
$  440.00 - david@london  ( 5 )
$  475.00 - skyrider  ( 9 )
$  480.00 - Fabius  ( 14 )
$  550.00 - HarrySmith  ( 3 )
$  625.00 - Pvt-telco  ( 4 )

Early Morning Auction Status

04-23-17      Listed      $    74.99
04-24-17      0 bids      $    74.99
04-25-17      1 bids      $    74.99   ( 1 bidders )
04-26-17      2 bids      $    76.00   ( 2 bidders )
04-27-17      2 bids      $    76.00
04-28-17      2 bids      $    76.00
04-29-17      2 bids      $    76.00
04-30-17      3 bids      $    82.00   ( 3 bidders )
04-30-17      5 bidders, 8 bids $340.88  Ended at 5:45:01PM PDT

[Greg G.]

$150.00

[19and41]

340.00, Please.

[HarrySmith]

$550.00

[Pvt-telco]

$625.00 please

[Jim Stettler]

$335.00

[Russ Kirk]

$357

[JimH]

$365 please

[skyrider]

$475 Thanks

[nolan613]

$385

[.....]

$395.00

[WEBellSystemChristian]

$280.95

[tallguy58]

$300

[Fabius]

$480

[Sargeguy]

$225