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#1
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My Baird and HMV prewar for auction at Bonhams
Here I go. I have decided to part with two of my three British prewar sets. A Baird T-23 from 1937 and a HMV 900 from 1936...or so. Plus a Baird Cathovisor CRT from the era with a good filament. It is a 15 MW2 which is the second of a series of these CRT's for Baird sets actually made by Cintel for Baird. The T-23 may be missing a chassis which could change the value. Stay tuned.
I had the Bairds and the Cathovisor imported from Britain in 2000. The T-23 is suspected to be a run of sets to get rid of T-5 cabinets hanging around. They are twins but for the customer control count. The HMV has been passed around here in the states for years, recapped and modded to NTSC with a tuner subber and some re-tuning. I did run it once on a 110/220v adaptor with NTSC RF to the antenna. It came up in a sort of iron cross pattern that expanded to a full raster. It works. Easily restored to 405. I have been sitting on the sets since 2000 or so and it is time to test the market. I have high reserves on the sets just in case things are not good this time around. I can try again. I am saving a Baird T-5 for a future auction depending on this one. Or I may just keep it and show it as the worlds oldest known television...in my living room. You can find the Baird and HMV 900 database count at earlytelevision.org The T-23 is a lower count than the T-5 I am saving. I selected Bonhams as they are British based and have auctioned Baird T-x sets before with spectacular results even during the economic downturn times. And they are likely a conduit to get the sets back to Britain where they should be. Bonhams picked up the sets a few weeks ago and have photographed them and done a history in the catalog that is beyond spectacular and with far more info than I gave them. I will be at the auction in NYC. Watching...not buying. The catalog PDF is here and the sets are about 2/3 of the way down. Spread the word to our Brit friends. https://images2.bonhams.com/original...-22964-0-1.pdf I may edit as I learn more. The T-23 is the set on the left in the photo as it arrived off the truck. The T-5 is on the right.
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“Once you eliminate the impossible...whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes. Last edited by Dave A; 08-22-2015 at 11:08 PM. |
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#2
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Nice looking tv's
Hope the auction works out well for you ! .
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Yes you can call me "Squirrel boy" |
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#3
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Interesting just to see those rare and impressive sets. No doubt there is a very select group of collectors able to consider possessing such museum pieces, let alone British models, but good luck! It'll be interesting to see the outcome.
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#4
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Bonhams sure knows how to photograph antiques! Good luck Dave and I hope they bring record prices.
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John |
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#5
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I thought I knew a lot about the sets but Bonhams went beyond customer service with their history and descriptions. They found some 50's caps that I missed. I might debate their 1936 for the T-23 date as the BBC tests were in November of that year and more akin to the T-5 sales. There is also the question of who actually made the set. JL Baird had lost control of the company by this time and I believe the set was made by Bush Radio. I stand to be corrected. It will be a fun day in NYC to watch the auction.
Decojoe67...these sets came to me via a referral from a CT collector who passed on them in the early internet days. I did the purchase by phone and snail mail to England. Just pure luck and help from another collector that passed on them. Now they should go home. John...you are correct. The photos of the items are great. As is Bonhams. No regrets on that choice.
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“Once you eliminate the impossible...whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes. Last edited by Dave A; 08-25-2015 at 12:16 AM. Reason: text |
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#6
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The OP is probably referring to the Bennett-Levy sale by Bonhams, London a few years ago where an unprecendented number of early TVs came to market at the same time. Also the 702 (or was it a 901) they sold a little later for a very high price. £15K ($20K+) rings a bell.
It will indeed be interesting to see what prices they make. I somehow doubt they will cross the Atlantic again. I agree that Bonhams have done a good job on the catalogue. Mind you, for the commission (buyer and seller) they take they jolly well should. |
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#7
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The two British mirror in lid sets sold recently by Bonhams that come to my mind are a Baird T-5 and a Marconi 702. Both of which sold for hefty sums, and I believe both to the same buyer in Canada.
Marconi: $26,000+ http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19034/lot/1/ Baird: $43,000+ https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19798/lot/1/ What a thrill it would be to watch your set sell at auction for those prices!
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John |
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#8
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Dave, I wish you good luck with the auction now that you have had time to enjoy having those sets in your home.
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Chris Quote from another forum: "(Antique TV collecting) always seemed to me to be a fringe hobby that only weirdos did." |
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#9
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The Baird T-5 linked to above by John is what I call the 7-knob version. The center knob was the Baird/EMI switch for the two mechanical/electronic standards available for the BBC tests in Nov. 1936. In my pic above of my two sets, you can see the set on the right is missing the center standards knob. EMI won the contest with 405 line electronic and no need for a standards switch which puts my set just a bit later than November. By the time the T-23 came along, the sets were much more electronically sophisticated and customer knob count went down.
Jeffrey...Bonhams was very kind on the commission. Their catalog and help is worth it. They sent me a note today explaining that a curator in Britain did the text. The text seems to resemble the writing style of the earlier Baird auction. And now I have to find my autographed copy of Bennett-Levy's book of his collection. And thanks to the rest of you for your encouragement. It is good to hear and I am having fun posting this bit of history.
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“Once you eliminate the impossible...whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes. |
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#10
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The guy who curated the MBL sale in London no longer works for Bonhams. He left about 2 years ago and I think he is now part of an antiques restoration business.
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#11
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Man, Bonham's just exudes class, don't they? You don't see that too much any more!
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#12
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Bonham's sent me an email yesterday asking if I knew the weight of the set. I could only guess but pointed them to some scans of T-23 paper I gave them to search. The game is afoot! Someone wants to ship it.
And check out the Apple 1 computer in the sale which was checked out by a computer expert associated with InfoAge. Video on the website if you dig far enough. They sold one last year for $750K or so before premiums. A guy in Florida saw the news on that sale and went to the basement and pulled another one out that his dad had sold in his early computer store. The woman did not like it and traded up. The trade-in was in the basement since. And it is in better working condition than the last one. Stay tuned. Reports Monday after I get off the train. The Fed decision to raise interest rates follows.
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“Once you eliminate the impossible...whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes. Last edited by Dave A; 09-16-2015 at 11:53 PM. |
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#13
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Quote:
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Tom C. Zenith: The quality stays in EVEN after the name falls off! What I want. --> http://www.videokarma.org/showpost.p...62&postcount=4 |
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#14
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Here's an interesting lot in the same auction http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22964/lot/67/. Oh what fun it would be to read through that collection.
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John |
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#15
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Last edited by ppppenguin; 09-22-2015 at 01:03 PM. |
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