Find of the Month - December 2016

[poplar1]

1957 Red Western Electric 500.  Purchased this last week as a "Buy it Now"  All dates 1957,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-RED-Rotary-Dial-Telephone-Desktop-Corded-Western-Electric-G-3-Bell-Syste-/282291584790

[oldguy]

My newest phone. Not the cheapest phone I've bought, $130 + 25 shipping but I think it looks great. Dates 1950, different months.

[unbeldi]

My newest phone. Not the cheapest phone I've bought, $130 + 25 shipping but I think it looks great. Dates 1950, different months.

This is a 304. Certainly not as frequently found as a 302. Perhaps that is the reason for a larger difference in manufacturing dates between the base (October) and the induction coil (April to June).
What is the date inside on the housing front edge?
In good condition without cracks anywhere, $130 is certainly in range of common pricing.

[Pourme]

That is a good looking Ivory 304...$130 imo is not a bad price at all in that condition, I certainly wouldn't take that for mine. I think you did good!

[oldguy]

The only crack I see is in the receiver cap (see photo) The housing date is in the other Photo. What's the difference between a 302 & a 304?

[oldguy]

That is a good looking Ivory 304...$130 imo is not a bad price at all in that condition, I certainly wouldn't take that for mine. I think you did good!

Thanks Benny, I'd rather pay a little more & get a good one at this point, I have too many other projects right now. It's a little yellowed but I hope it will lighten up with some chemical work, I will have to do some research. Any suggestions from anybody? If I'm going to ask questions I should probably move to "restoration techniques".

[unbeldi]

Fine hair lines in the receiver or transmitter caps won't harm the value, they seem unavoidable with age.

A 304 is very similar to the 302, but was designed primarily for two-party lines with message rate service, but could be used for other types as well.
In two-party message rate, the set had a feature that permitted the central office to automatically determine which station originated the call. This was achieved by splitting the ringer into two separate windings and thus four ringer wires, one of which had a resistance of 1000 ohms.  For the tip station the ringer was grounded with this 1000 ohm winding when the set is off-hook, while the station on the ring wire didn't not have the resistance against ground. Thus, the set was identified. The set has three distinguishing changes all-together,  the ringer is a B2A type, the hook switch has three switches instead of two, and the induction coil is a 101B type, instead of 101A in the 302.  The 101B has an extra tap in the primary winding which is tied into the ground recognition.
More description can be found in this forum topic.

[oldguy]

Thanks unbeldi, very informative.

[Fabius]

I nominate my Teladial Glow in the Dark ring for use on a 500 type set. Found on eBay, total cost $9.95 Original cost 59 cents.

[Pourme]

So many worthy pieces here this month, as usual.

I nominate my Green Continental, found on EBAY for $24+shipping. http://tinyurl.com/hzadmmy

It was discussed on the forum at

     http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=17181.msg177292#msg177292

[oldguy]

Very nice Benny, I really like the continentals, missed out on one the other day. a little too early on the snipe, my internet is slow, so I can't get too close to the end. I was high bidder for a couple seconds then outbid about 3 seconds before it ended. 

[Doug Rose]

I agree.....really nice Benny...at a really nice price....Doug

[Pourme]

Thanks, Guys!

[Jrs1958]

New in the box Princess phone from 12-59.  Rose Pink -59. Ebay. $99.

[HarrySmith]

Nice!