RARE WIRE OR NOT

By Jim Goedert

The 1998 Symposium defined a rare wire as: “A wire is considered rare when it is extremely difficult to obtain because of limited availability.”

This stated definition mentions nothing about the value of the wire, the attractiveness of the wire, or whether it needs stars to be considered rare.

The collecting trend seems to be gravitating toward the star wires as they are pretty to look at.  While indeed they are attractive, and some are very rare, having a star on the line does not necessarily make it a rare wire.

Let’s look at some of the star wires that are found in many collections.  The 704B Shellaberger Four-point Star is valued at $100.  It is a very attractive wire and could be considered rare.  It came from a large find in south Texas.

Now take a look at the 210B Reynolds Cast Star, which was found in Nicaragua and many pieces were brought into this country.  The person that found it risked his life getting it here.  It is a well made beautiful wire and is currently valued at $200.

Compare these two wires with the 467B and 468B Perry Welded Barb valuedat $50 each and the 463B and 464B Nadelhoffer Gull Wing Barb valued at $100 each.  There were very few of either of these wires ever found, yet anyone that has one to trade or sell can hardly give either of them away.  All of these wires can be considered rare wires but the Nadelhoffer and Perry are certainly more scarce than the Shellaberger or the Reynolds wires.  They are not as appealing to look at and that surely is the reason why collectors do not appreciate the Perry and Nadelhoffer wires as much as the Shellaberger or Reynolds wires.  What’s the reasoning?  Could it be “Star Power?”

Keil Rail

Now let’s take a look at the 749B Phillips Cocklebur.  It is known that at least thirty-five of these wires exist and are valued at $500.  Compare that to the 1024B Keil Twisted Rail wire where only two are known to exist at $500, or to the 300B Edenborn Wide Webbed Strand where only three are known to exist at $500 each.  All three of these wires are certainly rare wires, but once again, they are not valued according to scarcity.  For collectors, the cocklebur is certainly the most desired of the three.

Finally the most desirable rare wire of all, in my opinion, is the 204B Nebraska Dodge Star.  Sixty-two of these wires were found in the late 1960s.  It is valued at $300 and is a quite rare wire.  I will go out on a limb and say that when you have this wire, your collection can be considered complete.

In conclusion, the list could go on and on as to what is rare and what isn’t. We have covered the scarcity of a wire, but that doesn’t seem to apply to the rareness as witnessed in the Value Guide.  Wires that are eye-appealing definitely hold more credibility with collectors. And the star wires look to be the most desired whether they have been found in large quantities or not.

It seems that the stated definition from the 1998 Symposium is probably the best answer we can give for a rare wire. What it all boils down to is, if you the collector, deem a wire in your collection to be rare, then so be it!