For a few days, I thought I might actually have a shot at this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/By-SASIENI-GOLD-BAND-Specially-Selected-Eight-8-Dot-4X2-LE-9-UNSMOKED-PIPE1979-/331409058441?autorefresh=true&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=PFxJlfv%252FZVyIkuJj3xxl4IRtpnI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
Richard Carleton Hacker mentions this Specially Selected series in The "Ultimate Pipe Book" and "Rare Smoke". It was rumored that only 100 were made in this series, but Hacker said there may have been more. Non banded pipes sold for $400 in 1979 and the more rare gold banded models went for $550. Hacker says this was the last Sasieni to use the old fish-tail script. I've never seen one for sale before, let alone an unsmoked model with all the tags and wax string seal.
The pipe shot to nearly $200 yesterday and in the final minute, it went from $561 to $676. I became a spectator pretty quickly....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/By-SASIENI-GOLD-BAND-Specially-Selected-Eight-8-Dot-4X2-LE-9-UNSMOKED-PIPE1979-/331409058441?autorefresh=true&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=PFxJlfv%252FZVyIkuJj3xxl4IRtpnI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
Richard Carleton Hacker mentions this Specially Selected series in The "Ultimate Pipe Book" and "Rare Smoke". It was rumored that only 100 were made in this series, but Hacker said there may have been more. Non banded pipes sold for $400 in 1979 and the more rare gold banded models went for $550. Hacker says this was the last Sasieni to use the old fish-tail script. I've never seen one for sale before, let alone an unsmoked model with all the tags and wax string seal.
The pipe shot to nearly $200 yesterday and in the final minute, it went from $561 to $676. I became a spectator pretty quickly....