Featured Insulators: Australian Rarities and Uncommons!
Photos
Story - History
In this edition of "Featured Insulator" I am highlighting a number of different Australian insulators, that are all rare, scarce, or uncommon. This is either because of their colour or embossing. The group of insulators shown here is the result of almost three years of continuously watching eBay for unusual Aussie pieces.
- CD 121 No Embossing:
- Here we have a couple of CD 121 No Embossing AGEE products in uncommon colours. There is a dark amber, a rose tint and a clear. The rarest colours for this piece are light emerald green and emerald green which I have never ever seen anywhere.
- CD 154 AGEE /S:
- This Aussie version of the standard Hemi-42 is found only in amethyst. It even has a standard US threaded pinhole, as opposed to the metric pinhole on all other Aussie glass insulators. These were made in 1929 or 1930. There is a dark amethyst version of this listed, but I've never seen one much darker than the one I have.
Following are a series of telephone subscriber type insulators.
- CD 420 AGEE:
- Found only in light green aqua, these are some of the earliest subscriber type insulators from Australia. The CD 420 and 421 were both produced in the mid to late 1920's.
- CD 421 AGEE:
- Found only in amethyst, this was the next step in the subscriber insulator evolution. This one is rarely seen up for sale, probably due to the "purple" effect, where collectors tend to hold onto all of their purple glass.
- CD 422 C.C.G.:
- An uncommon embossing on a clear piece. This was made around 1942, at the time of transition from the AGEE company name to the C.C.G. company.
- CD 423 A.G.M. // SUB:
- This rare piece comes in straw only, and was found in one area of Western Australia. I have also heard that all of these known have the same 1960 date code, meaning they were only made in that one year.
- CD 490 AGEE:
- This is the large AGEE bell style. I have the CD 490 Type I AGEE with the four (4) sharp drip points in purple. Very little is written about this odd variant with the four drip points, but it was probably an experiment to improve the water shedding ability of the insulator, to improve performance in wet weather. The other one is a CD 490 Type III AGEE in straw colour, which was produced around 1937.
- CD 590 A.G.M.:
- The last ones are two of the less common colours of the CD 590 A.G.M. in light straw and straw. The CD 590 was only produced in 1951, the design was unsuccessful and it was discontinued. It appears in six colours, with the amber and the yellow green seeming to be most common. The lighter colours are not seen as often.
The price guide values for some of these pieces are quite low, but the rarity and desirability of these items leads me to feel that they are underrated in the GIFONA. Many of these items only show up for sale about once a year or less on eBay, www.insulators.info, or Grampa Mac's Insulator Emporium.
More Photos
Embossing, Colours and Price Guide Listing
Since there are so many different CDs presented here, I will only give the price guide information for these specific pieces.
- CD 121 NE (unembossed AGEE) SB
- Dark Amber $100-125 US
- Rose Tint $100-125 US
- Clear $100-125 US
- CD 154 AGEE / S RDP
- CD 420 AGEE SB
- Light Green Aqua $30-40 US
- CD 421 AGEE SB
- CD 422 C.C.G. SB
- CD 423 A.G.M. // SUB SB
- CD 490 AGEE Type I 4 SDP
- CD 490 AGEE Type III SB
- CD 590 A.G.M. / PI-3 SB
- Light Straw $50-75 US
- Straw $50-75 US
Condition
As you can see from the pictures, most of these are in excellent condition. The CD 121 in dark amber has a base chip, but other than minor scuffs or fleabites, the rest of them are superb, with most rating VNM to M.
Market Place Musings
This grouping represents some of the most uncommon of the Aussie insulators. As said earlier, several of them appear to be underrated in the GIFONA. The CD 421 in amethyst lists for less than the CD 420 in light green aqua, but are less common and always command a higher price when they do sell. Must be that "purple" thing kicking in again.
Many of these I have only seen up for sale a couple of times in three years of watching and buying. When these pieces do come on the market, there is often quite a bit of bidding activity and interest. The exception to this would be the CD 423 AGM / SUB variant where I was the only bidder on that eBay auction. Occasionally a rare item slips under the eBay radar which allows me to snatch up the bargains that I like.
I also have a number of "never seen on eBay" Aussie non-glass pieces, but that is a story for another time.
