Basically you get what you pay for. If you want one of the pricey pieces and you don’t want to pay the big bucks, a damaged L.E. may be the way to go. You can fill your missing spot for little money and still say you have that piece. The bad side is that if that piece goes up in value the damaged one will not.
The first thing we need to do is classify what a damaged piece is. A damaged piece is one with something missing or a chunk of the lighthouse missing that touch-up paint won’t hide. I personally believe that a damaged piece should be used for your office collection or to fill that missing spot that you would never be able to fill. I also believe that a damaged pieces value should be no more than $10 for the common lights and no more than $30 to $50 for the pricey collectable lights. A coquille or cape Hatteras would be worth more, since you could have it restored for $180.

The following are not damaged lights but might bring in a lower price.
1. Micro chips- tinny chips on a lighthouse that if touched up would never be noticed.
2. Paint wear- The older L.E.s were water colored and many a time some are found with the paint falling off of it.
3. Minor base chips- These are common with the Canadian made.
4. Dirty looking.
5. missing or broken lighting rod
6. marked stained, cut or missing felt.