Silver Imperial

[Pourme]

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One of the phones I had on my "wanted list" was a silver Imperial to sit beside my gold Imperial. I watched as this one with subset went through a auction cycle with no takers. The BIN was $145.00. In it's second round I offered $100.00+ shipping, she accepted. I knew going in that the finish was not what I wanted, nowhere the condition of my nearly perfect gold version. But it IS a silver Imperial that, in my experience have become hard to find. (Still in search of a Peking Red Continental)

The 684-A subset isn't like any other I have ever owned. It is smaller. The case is soft plastic, I think. Definitely not Bakelite. The finger dial was incorrect, first thing I did was put the proper open finger wheel on it because I couldn't stand to see the metal one at all. Made me feel better. The subset base is dated IV36. The cover is dated 2 19 53. I assume it was recycled just as the 202 was as the original subset to the Imperial?

Handset cord is way out of shape, a bit frayed at the handset. The cord to the subset is incorrect, appears to be a handset cord.  The '55 transmitter and reciever elements look to be original.

Now for the really bad news. MOISTURE! This was stored in a very moist environment. Look at the pics of the inside of the phone! Quite a job ahead of me. I have several 202s with parts. I should be able to pull this off. I just wish the silver was in better condition, I can't fix that.

Your observations and thoughts welcome.

Benny

[Pourme]

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More pics

[monophone_lover]

Very nice benny .... its looking good on your shelf i saw that auction, looking at your photos it looks a-lot better then the seller.. photographed it.. good job ...

[wds]

I notice the subset is a very early one with the older style coil.  Would like to see more pictures of the two subsets side by side.  I don't know how the subset could get much smaller!

[HarrySmith]

It looks good on the outside! Too bad about all that rust, that will be a lot of work to restore. Good luck! I have a gold one that came with a Nothern subset, I may be looking to replace that. I should keep my eyes open for a silver one also!

[poplar1]

That is the standard size for a 684A subset. The subset with your gold Imperial is a 634BA or 634A.

The mounting cord looks like one for a 500. It wouldn't be a handset cord because it has green, red, yellow, (and black?). Handset cord has red, black, and 2 white.