NOS Y/G Escher with Original Ink Stamps!!!

blaireau · 10-01-2008, 09:29 PM

What do you guys think of this hone!! It's a NOS Y/G Escher, still has the ink stamps on it, one stamp is the Holy Grail "GELBGRUN" or Yellow/Green and the other is the Goldene Medaille stamp. The stone is 8" X 1 13/16" X 3/4", WOW, a brick. Should I buy it?!?!? OMG, I'll have to hock something!

nun2sharp · 10-01-2008, 09:39 PM

Of course you should buy it, my birthday is in three days!

Kees · 10-01-2008, 09:40 PM

I saw that one on ebay some time ago. IIRC it fetched 750 USD. Box seems to have a space for a slurry stone, is it part of the deal?

Methinks you have caught a serious HAD-itis, and trust me, I'm a doctor! I can cure you! Tell seller to send it to me, I'll keep it safe and return it to you when you're fit to handle it!

blaireau · 10-01-2008, 09:43 PM

Kees, this isn't the one that sold on eBay a while back. And no, unfortunately it doesn't have the slurry stone.

Chris L · 10-01-2008, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blaireau

I'll have to hock something!

Just hock a few of your other Eschers in lesser condition; You can only have so many stones. I call it "trading up".

Bummer it doesn't have the slurry stone. Since you're attracted to this stone for it's collector value given its condition, IMO the lack of slurry stone does impact its value.

Truly a 100% collector piece. You know you wouldn't lap the ink stamps off, nor would you remove the stone's label. So, 100% collectible and 0% usable. Don't get me wrong, if I owned it, I wouldn't use it either for those reasons. In that regard, it's a shame.

Chris L

Bruce · 10-01-2008, 09:58 PM

So Rich,

What's holding you back?

I'd buy it in a heatbeat, but just looking at the picture of that hone of hones seems to have stopped the ol' pump.

Of course with the stamp and all, you'd never be able to lap it. And then you couldn't use it. But it sure looks neat in that box.

good luck,

blaireau · 10-01-2008, 10:00 PM

Yeah Chris, I agree. And Kees, can you cure ED? I don't mind HAD but being a Latin, ED is really getting to me!

JimmyHAD · 10-01-2008, 10:14 PM

It is like having an unsmoked Bo Nordh or Sixten Ivarrson tobacco pipe. It is beautiful to look upon but if you smoke it you cut into the resale value. If you don't smoke it you can't really fully enjoy it. I guess it depends on the type of collector that you are. For some having a mint NOS yellow green Escher would be enough and keeping it that way would be the priority. I am the type of collector who likes to use my razors and hones. That said if the price was right I would buy it , lap it and use it just as I would smoke a Bo Nordh if I had one.

Chris L · 10-01-2008, 10:21 PM

It's a conundrum to be sure. Use it or don't use it. In daydreaming about the "what ifs" with this stone, if I found it in that condition and paid $100 for it, I could see myself not only dancing in the streets a bit, but I could see myself NOT using it. If I had to pay hundreds, $500+ I would actually find little satisfaction in just staring at it unused in it's box and it would not be worth it to me. Weird maybe, but that's just me.

Chris L

Kees · 10-01-2008, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blaireau

Yeah Chris, I agree. And Kees, can you cure ED? I don't mind HAD but being a Latin, ED is really getting to me!

I'll take your Eschers for some Viagra.

blaireau · 10-01-2008, 11:50 PM

Kees, I have Viagra and Cialis. I thought that a Dutch Doctor of Medicine would have a REAL cure, something from Indonesia or South Africa! Didn't they discover something at Delft or somewhere?

kelbro · 10-02-2008, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris L

It's a conundrum to be sure. Use it or don't use it. In daydreaming about the "what ifs" with this stone, if I found it in that condition and paid $100 for it, I could see myself not only dancing in the streets a bit, but I could see myself NOT using it. If I had to pay hundreds, $500+ I would actually find little satisfaction in just staring at it unused in it's box and it would not be worth it to me. Weird maybe, but that's just me.

Chris L

Same here!

I would think long and hard about 'collector value' on a product that services a market that was once almost dead and is currently experiencing a resurgence. The majority of the potential buyers are aging and if the base of buyers is already limited, it's probably something that I'd consider flipping if I got a great deal on it. I'd hate to get stuck with an expensive rock.

Beautiful stone though

blaireau · 10-02-2008, 04:36 AM

OMG. I'm feeling my AAAGGGEEE!!!

Bruno · 10-02-2008, 10:56 AM

I would use it if I had it. I lapped the kanji right off my top grade nakayama. I bought it for using, not for staring at

But about this escher: the stamp says yellow green, but to me it has not green or yellow at all. More like a blue grey imo.

EDIT: Oh as for the investment value: I wouldn't worry about that. Even if the shaving market collapses, Jewish Rabbis crave vintage eschers and coticules (or so I was told).

kelbro · 10-02-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blaireau

OMG. I'm feeling my AAAGGGEEE!!!

I feel it every morning! And hear it LOL.

My post was coming from a collector perspective. I collect pre-1900 Austrian clocks and pocket watches. My sister collects antique dolls. Over the past 30 years we have seen the value of these 'collectibles' go up and down with the swings not going 'up' as much on each cycle. Less people at the auctions, fewer collector clubs, etc... True collectible pieces (not collections) will still bring top dollar from time to time but that's usually to fill a hole in someone's collection.

But if you are like me, you probably don't think about selling when you latch onto a fine piece.

Bruno · 10-02-2008, 02:00 PM

I've collected stamps for a while as a kids, and some stamps would be very pricy (not that I had any of those) fastforward to today, and the same stamp collections aren't worth nearly as much today.

The same happened with the Finnish and vatican 1 eurocent and 2 eurocent pieces.
They'd cost up to 50 euros or more.
Today you can buy them for a fraction of that.

Only the truly rare pieces will retain their value. And even then, most profit will probably eaten by inflation.

Chimensch · 10-02-2008, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruno

Jewish Rabbis ...

What other kind of Rabbis are there?

zepplin · 10-02-2008, 02:26 PM

I would figure a way to use it! You probably would never sell it anyway, I think!

I would seal the edges and the stamped side with that Japanese varnish/shallac that OLD_SCHOOL uses on his Japanese stones.

If you don't want to do that, you could always hone on the 3/4" edge, but, either way, I would use it.

JMO

Steve

SteveS · 10-02-2008, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruno

I would use it if I had it. I lapped the kanji right off my top grade nakayama. I bought it for using, not for staring at

Ditto to both points, though I did take some pictures before I lapped my Nakayama.

Bruno · 10-02-2008, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chimensch

What other kind of Rabbis are there?

Good point. Hadn't thought about that.