Beginner questions about estate pipes

jdzane · Jun 2, 2017

My Father-in-law has about 15 pipes he inherited from his father. He no longer smokes and knows that his children have no desire to inherit them, so he's looking into selling them. Somehow I got tasked with determining their value. I have no idea where to start. The number one question I have is if they are worth anything with non-original stems. Only 2 or 3 of the 15 or so have original stems.
I guess that's where I need to start, to find out if pipes with replacement stems are worth anything or if we're wasting our time.

buroak · Jun 2, 2017

First, welcome!

Now to business...Replacement stems very nearly always greatly reduce the sale value of a pipe. Of course, how much stem originality matters depends partly on the pipes' makers. What makes of pipes do you have in the collection?

jdzane · Jun 2, 2017

A lot. And some that my father in law thinks are valuable. Dunhill, Comoy Riband (2 I think), Viggo Nielson, Savinelli, and others. If I'm allowed to share urls, here's the list with links to the shared google photo albums for each.
Dunhill, original stem

https://goo.gl/photos/a95GLcJBTS7w5tvq6
Comoy Blue Riband 409

https://goo.gl/photos/Ad7Thn5U2dw52Wx89
Daniel Frank?, original stem

https://goo.gl/photos/Sc78eCKo2EHMZHfG7
Viggo Nielsen, possible original stem? It won't come out

https://goo.gl/photos/fzqVgXVMMZNNR1vz8
Savinelli Punto Oro 624

https://goo.gl/photos/buWpxwoC49k49mnz8
Barling's Ye Olde Wood, original stem

https://goo.gl/photos/dxvJQSMaiKmaXgMr5
Pibe Dan Copenhagen 150P 272

https://goo.gl/photos/nj1e9Rixh63YGtpj8
Pibe Dan Copenhagen 150P 270

https://goo.gl/photos/WEr5dVWC2EfDZLM66
Grace Bros LTD

https://goo.gl/photos/DR8cVXKwxv4y6BmQ7
Drum Major

https://goo.gl/photos/uoVqbGU1c8Aeeqgs9
"Co Bl" is all I could make out, probably a comoy blue riband

https://goo.gl/photos/mLeLveRc7AnbAxEBA
Danmark SON

https://goo.gl/photos/u7CJcZp7i9RxnfEZ6
Selected Straight Grain made in London England

https://goo.gl/photos/BqrCdDH1oxKQH1Hu5
Pibe Dan Copenhagen 82 K 770 Hansen Briar

https://goo.gl/photos/iSkxNXWBRNCqA8N47
LJ Peretti Co. Imported Briar

https://goo.gl/photos/Z2kwBcAUT1eSiuN46
G.H.B. Bruxellss

https://goo.gl/photos/UJTWJTDCD3NfUAgd9

pagan · Jun 2, 2017

Could be a difficult task, try putting them up for consignment, contact Pipestud, (member hear) he may be willing to help or you can send them to Smokingpipes.com and they will buy them

bttreadwell · Jun 2, 2017

Yeah, Pipestud is the man to talk to. Otherwise you could try E-bay, but you just never know.

georged · Jun 2, 2017

Sorry, the FET's stem is definitely not original.
The bent Barling almost certainly is original (as ugly as it is... who thought that slab design was a good idea, anyway? :lol: )
The Daniel Frank is also almost certainly original (but the pipe has no collector value).

jdzane · Jun 2, 2017

What makes you say the Dunhill's isn't original?

ashdigger · Jun 2, 2017

Jdzane, welcome aboard.
GeorgeD says that because he's an expert at that kind of thing. This pipe forum is chalked with knowledge and extremely professional and honest folks.
Hope that helps.

aquadoc · Jun 2, 2017

What Ashdigger said. I would add that if you look closely at the stem and shank fit, they don't match up. The stem looks a bit oversized. As to the placement of the white dot and all of that...I have no idea if George is seeing other things that cue him in to the replacement of the stem but I am sure he sees much more than I do.

Sjmiller CPG · Jun 2, 2017

I will always defer to GeorgeD but whenever I see a big name pipe where the stem and shank don't fit, it means do not buy.

jdzane · Jun 2, 2017

Ok, wow, good to know. Thanks for the help. I'm guessing the guy I emailed at smokingpipes.com is going to come back with a similar appraisal. Is there a way to message Pipestud directly? I'm sure if my father in law can still get some money for the bowls he'll want to try.

woodsroad · Jun 2, 2017

http://pipestud.com

Pipestud@aol.com

Google is your friend.

dmcmtk · Jun 2, 2017

Some nice pipes there. Of all of them the Barling's Make bent Fossil EXEL is by far the most valuable in today's collectors market. One sees far fewer bent pipes from Barling's in the estate market, "Family Era" Barling's (pre-1962) are very much sought after these days.

The other two that appeal to me, are the Viggo Nielsen (he made fine smoking pipes), and the Pibe Dan Copenhagen 150P 270 (which has some issues, but properly cleaned up, would also be a nice pipe).

sablebrush52 · Jun 3, 2017

For sure, the Dunhill stem isn't original to that pipe. You can see that its diameter is larger than the shank. That doesn't really look like much of a fantail to me, and the f/t stands for fantail. The Barling's Make has some value, as do several of the other pipes, though I don't see any big bucks items here. You can put them up on eBay, but if you do, the quality of the photographs needs to be much better than what you're showing or you'll get bottom dollar on your listings. Pipestud is one way to go, so is Mike Glukler at Briar Blues, or Marty Pulvers at pulverspriorbriar. Both of these gentlemen are extremely honest.

You might also want to learn a bit about the pipes that you have, so check out pipephil.eu and also pipedia.org.

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