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Photos
Story - HistoryThe CD 590 AGM is another interesting insulator from Australia. A few points make it stand out among the other Aussie glass. The first is that this is the only cable top style insulator produced in Australia. All of the other Aussie CDs are side wire groove styles. There were other larger power pieces used in Australia, but they were generally imported units from England, or France.
The second point is that this design proved to be unsuccessful and was discontinued after less than a year of production. As a result of this, all the CD 590s carry the same date code on them. The date code system used by both CCG and AGM is a single digit to denote the decade (eg. 5 for 1950) followed by a row of colons or pairs of dots (:), one for each subsequent year. An insulator made in 1947 would be date coded thusly, 4::::::: . Sometimes the decade number was not changed after ten years and additional pairs of dots were added, one above and one below the existing double row of dots.
There are two variations in the style of this insulator. The difference is in the shape of the shoulder under the wire groove. The dark amber ones (and only this colour) drop off immediately below the wire ridge, while all the other colours have a built up wire groove ridge below the wire groove. See the two profile drawings below. I would speculate that the dark amber ones were the first production design and the mold was later modified to try and improve the wire groove by adding the lower ridge. See Detail photo above showing the two styles of wire groove. There is a little difference in the inner skirt length between the amber ones and the other colours too, with the amber ones generally having a slightly shorter inner skirt. See Base View photo above.
These are a fairly small insulator measuring only 3-3/4" high and 3" in diameter. There are not any heavy glass sections in the molding so they feel somewhat light for a cable top style of insulator.
I have a small photo (below) snagged from the web, of a CD 590 in service. Note that the wire is attached with a traditional side tie, rather than using the cable groove on the top. Perhaps an Aussie collector can enlighten me on the normal usage of these pieces.
More Photos
Embossing, Colours and Price Guide ListingAs these insulators were only produced for such a short time, they all have the same embossing, which is A.G.M. / PI-3 / (Mold Number) with a date code on the back. On all of them the date code is 5: representing 1951.
There are six different colours listed in GIFONA for this CD. In the picture above, all six are shown. From left to right: Yellow green, light green, ice green, straw, light straw and dark amber.
ConditionI have four insulators of this CD in various colours. Condition of all of them is VNM to MINT. Considering that they are only 52 years old, they are usually in pretty good condition. Minor scuffing, fleabites, small dings and flakes are the most common types of damage seen on these pieces.
Market Place MusingsThese are fairly common insulators and they come up for sale on eBay quite regularly. I'd say there is at least one auction per month on average. Dark amber and yellow green are the colours seen most often. The lighter colours seldom come up for sale.
The closing bid prices for this CD seem to vary widely. Auction location seems to play a large role in the success of these auctions. I suppose many North American buyers are reluctant to bid on insulators in Australia, so the US auctions generally get higher bids than the Aussie ones. The less common colours will usually attract more bidding activity.
I have paid as little as $12 US for an amber one and as high as $30 US for my yellow green one. I have bought several dark amber ones on eBay and sold them at insulator sales/shows in Ontario. The straw and light green ones that I have, were purchased through the ICON Insulator List. A recent eBay purchase has finally resulted in me having all the listed colours for this CD.
Copyright © 2007 - Doug Netzke and Micro Solutions of Sudbury