1937 Fisher Two Box Set

[Whiskers]

About 25 years ago, when I was a Compass dealer, I traded a new Compass for a ca. 1937 Fisher two box detector. It was made of shellacked plywood and originally had two carry rods, which I replaced with pine 1x2s. I set it up with batteries and it seemed to work fine. It had the original shipping box from which some criminal long ago scrapped the label. A few months ago I donated it to the Palo Alto Historical Association (Fisher's were originally made in Palo Alto) along with my old Fisher T-30.

My question is, how many of these early pre-war machines are around? I've occasionally seen the red two box set (post-war?) on eBay, but never the plywood. And, since I'll be taking a tax writoff for the machines, any idea of the value? Thanks much. - Whiskers

 

[silvernail]

Gee whiz! I bought my first detector, a T-10, from Dr. Fisher about 1962 and I thought THAT was a relic!! I still have a T-10X and a T-20 around somewhere. I'd like to trade for something but haven't had any offers yet. They are pretty dilapidated; your museum wouldn't be much charmed by them. Did you take any pictures of that dinosaur? It was made about the time they officially became "Metalscopes," and that vintage must be pretty rare by now. As to "value", the last time it moved between a willing seller and a willing buyer, it was worth the price of that Compass .... and that was for its antique value at the time. I'd start with thinking about that figure. HH