I know this used to come up a lot. I searched and couldn't find it, but was curious as to your "greatest find" when looking for your HL's?

I will never for get going into a store and seeing a Boston Harbor LE sitting on the shelf. It had been there a while and the paint was starting to fade a tad. Was going to buy it anyway for myself just to have in my collection. Then the clerk came back from the back with (2) MIB Boston Harbors with rods!! Kept the one on the shelf for myself and wound up selling the other two on ebay for a pretty good profit, which allowed me to buy more.. But, I said all that to say, that I really have a hard time selling any of them for any reason any more. Just get too attached to the things!!

What's your greatest find?

Thanks

Rusty

Happened to stop by a gift shop in 2003 in Cape Cod, MA to purchase Yankee Candles. Spotted a shelf in the back that had a few Harbour Lights pieces and nonchalantly examined them, not expecting any surprises. Came upon a New Point Loma, HL 604, the 1997 Reunion Event Exclusive issued and retired in October of 1997. It was marked at $900, marked down to $450. I offered and purchased it for $400 plus $20 tax! Ironically, I'd just left another gift shop in the area where I'd asked about that piece, but that shop didn't have that piece and didn't know where to get one.

Probably all "serious" collectors have great experiences of finding startling bargains, so this is mine. Back in 1998 or so, I was trying to "catch up" by finding all the elusive earlier pieces. (I hadn't begun collecting until 1994.)A secondary dealer I was working with wrote and told me her customer wanted to sell a Coquille LE. When she told me the price, after I picked myself off the floor, I happily and quickly sent the check for $160...Frank Carbone NELL

I guess mine would be finding 2 Grays Harbor pieces with the top section installed incorrectly, and both of them at the same dealer in Ocala. Ironically one was offset in the counterclockwise direction and the other was offset in the clockwise direction. To this day I've never heard about another one being offset in the clockwise direction.

My second lucky find was while I was looking for a "green" water New London Ledge and I stumbled upon a TEAL GREEN Water version at a dealer on the West Coast. We were talking on the phone and he said that he had a "blue water", no "green water" but he had this funny looking "not blue and not green" version that appeared to be a "teal color". My credit card came out of my wallet faster then I can eat a barbecue rib.

My greatest find was Harbour Lights. I had not heard of the company until the first time I walked into a lighthouse store and saw them on the shelves. 2nd would be when I finally got a matching set of Mackinaws thanks to another CF member. I have searched high and low for some of my pieces, but when I waited to late to order the White Mack, I thought I would never be able to get one.

The first thing that came to mind was when I found a Minots Ledge on the shelf priced at $49. I was about to send a check for $90 to a secondary market dealer for one the next day. Minots was hard to find back then and it was bringing about a hundred bucks for a good one.

I also got a free Admiralty Head (no box) on a buy-one-get-one-free sale at a dealer. Once again, this was when HL's were selling strong in most areas.

Bob

My "greatest find" changes in time... it depends on how things develop in our collection. My definition of "greatest" changes.

But realistically our greatest "find" was HL605 the 1997 Reunion Miniature of the New Point Loma Lighthouse.

And strictly speaking we did not "find" this, but bought it from a fellow collector. But we are VERY attached to this little light and it is definitely one of two I would not want to be without! (The other is the LLOM of the Old Point Loma Light)

About 4 years ago, in a small Christmas shop in Freeport, ME, the owner was discontinuing most of their Harbour Lights line. He was willing to sell them to us at wholesale cost, for us to resell in our store. Harbour Lights actually encourages this when they lose a dealer, to have them transfer their product to another dealer, rather than discount it to the public (that only hurts the Harbour Lights name, and upsets customers who paid full price).

We only found a couple New England retired pieces to resell in our store, but we did find on the shelf, for our own collection, an HL103 West Quoddy artist proof. It set us back a mere $29.

Jim

Wow. Thanks for the stories. I love reading about them. Nothing like finding that "suprise" that you just can't believe you found.. I still look for them every now and then.. After purchasing a "Sharp's Island" LE piece that got me started collecting I thought I would just go for ones that I had been to. But when I found the Boston Harbor's with the "rod". I then started going after those "rare finds". I remember one vacation trip I took. I would stop at any little "out of the way" store that might have HL's and snoop them out. I did find a dealer once that sold me everything he had at 75% off. I bought all 11 pieces that he had. Eventually had to "cull" some out and sell them so I would have room in my curio for my other finds...

Anyway, thanks for sharing your finds. Again I love reading about them.

Rusty

My greatest Harbour Lights find:

The Lighthouse Keepers Collector Forums !!!

It has enhanced the fun of collecting HL's !!!

Cost: Priceless !!!

Editing in that this is the the perfect post for my 1900 post.

Lighthouse Loon,

You are so correct. When I first started collecting this site was invaluable!

Rusty

Well, of course, Stan you are so right! If you want to think a bit outside the box. I totally agree with the CF being a very very important part of our collection!

We did have some HL before John "dragged us in here" but the collection really took off after we joined CF. No least because of the help we received from all the members!

For example: I wouldn't have known Thumbnails existed without you all. Never mind owned some!

Our greatest find I would say is when we got our Society gift piece of the still to my knowledge one of a kind "Ape Hatteras Beacon".

Tom

It looks like we are all talking about non-internet finds.
So keeping with the format I would have to say my AdmiralPy Head is my greatest non-internet find. I ordered a correct spelling Admiralty Head over the phone at the Collectable Exchange and to my surprise they sent me the AdmiralPy version. There are only two known to exist. This find was before the Forums and the Harbour Light website. I identified it through John’s website, which is where the variation site that is now on the HL site, started from.

To All:

Why should this topic be associated only to non-internet finds? I'd like to hear about the neat stuff folks have discovered on the internet.

bobo

I agree Bob, the finds can come from anywhere. Internet or not. They are still finds. There is nothing like the thrill of that unique piece.. Thanks to all for your stories. Keep em coming!

Rusty

I was thinking after this post loses interest we could start a new post with, best find on the internet.
Bobo you probally have twenty that you could list.

My greatest find was my CH1 but I can't tell about it (sworn to double top secrecy), so my second greatest find 'non-internet' would probably be my #9 Anchor Bay Kim regular edition.. This was before any of the 1-10 numbers started showing up at events.. Some how it made it's way out of El Cajon to a Michigan dealer to my cabinet.. What makes it's more of a find is the regular edition Kim's weren't to be shipped to dealers; only 13 known regular edition Kim's made it out of the warehouse..

Not my find, but one I remember from the old AOL Lighthouse Collectibles Board around 1997.

One of the members had moved from the midwest to Dallas and took out the dealer directory (then sent by Harbour Lights with Collector Society papers) and visited every shop in the area.

One of the dealers he visited was a smoke shop and there on the shelf he saw an original Limited Edition Split Rock HL124. On closer examination, it turned out to be the "Split Rock MICHIGAN" variation. Naturally he picked it up in a "split" second for suggested retail!

I think at the time the secondary market price for this variation was about $1,600.

My Middle Bay, AL, HL 187, was found 5/02 at retail plus a few $ s/h at Collector's World, MA. The only other one I could find was a local store item at $350. That store was the last local source for H-L's, even if Sand Is., AL was their last new item. They are unloading everything - even display cases. I honestly won't miss them, despite their once hosting Younger events... they are an 'unfriendly' lot. The nice collectible selling folks locally are either long gone now - or, like the one surviving Harmony Kingdom dealer, my wife's poison, never went with H-L.

Stainz

Well this topic has pretty much stop.
So I thought I would add a link to great finds in 1999.

Harbour Lights Great Finds 1999

DANIEL,

Thanks for the link. Good thinking!

bobo

Daniel,

Thanks for the link. Brought back memories of some great people from back then... Wonder where they are now???

Rusty :rolleyes: