Job lot of old valves found

[rufford155]

Not sure which forum to post this on, so here goes anyway.
I have inherited a mixed batch of 296 old valves that I'd like to sell.
They are all used and untested (I am not qualified) but I don't think the owner would have kept them if not working.
Looking at this site and elsewhere, there is obviously a market.
A dealer's price list (dated 2003) that is with them suggests the value could be several hundred pounds.
I want to sell but ebay would be very longwinded.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Can anyone recommend a dealer who might offer a good price in Lancashire or nearby?
Thanks for your help, much appreciated.
John

[Radio Wrangler]

There are some valves which fetch staggering prices because of demand and rarity. There are others which sell for pennies.

To find out what they're worth, you're going to have to make a list of the type numbers. Then if there are any audiophile types in there, the price depends a lot on the make, manufacturing plant, and even the shape of some electrodes. It's a bit like the antiques trade meets the fashion trade meets the fine-wines trade, plus a set of new clothes for the emperor.

Dealers get their prices by offering a tested product and some assurance that the part is working and in good condition. This means that the prices they pay are substantially lower than what they advertise for sale.

In any field where there are silly prices for rare things which look just like common things, there is a ready supply of con-men looking to make some fast money. There are also fine, honest people. Telling them apart is difficult because con-men try to appear honest.

There are a couple of long established and trusted dealers. The one I know best was based outside Huddersfield but has now retired and sold his stock, I think, to Langrex.

When you contact a dealer, he'll want to know what type numbers are involved, so you're back to making a list of types and makes.

If you post a list on here, then people can advise you on typical prices, but it's an open forum, indexed by search engines. There are people continuously running searches for cult hifi valves, so expect to get noticed if there happen to be any of those types in your list. Anyway, you've been reading this site, so you should be able to spot the occasional gold-digger following a search hit. We've learned to be rather circumspect when discussing certain models of old radio and to not mention directly certain valves in them. It's a bit like mentioning where a rhinocerous is living, and soon after finding its carcass with the horn ripped out. I suppose we're a group of people who like rhinos, and don't believe in magical properties of powdered rhino horn.

For maximum confusion, at the end of the valve era various manufacturers re-branded each other's stuff. Importers put their brand on all sorts of stuff.

Because of all this, the audio gang have pushed up the prices of their favourite valve testers to thousands of pounds.

I'm afraid to say that getting the best price will take time.

Oh, one other clue that might help determine what you have. What were his interests?
Fixing TVs? Amateur radio? Hifi? These will have shaped what he kept.

David

[G8UWM-MildMartin]

If you're after the best price for untested valves, listing on ebay in batches of similar types with very good pictures is likely to realise their market value and be worth the effort.
Some research on the internet and enquiries here might show that some types are valuable enough, if good, to be worth the gamble of paying someone to test them.

[woodchips]

There are, in reality, possibly less than two dozen really sought after valves, and it won't take long to determine whether you have any. If you want to see what they are worth buying in then try the Brent Jesse web site in the USA, it will at least give you an idea.

Good luck, if you haven't done this before then you really will be amazed just how tedious it is.

[paulsherwin]

Used valves removed from scrap equipment are known as 'pulls'.

If you are unlucky, most of these will be old TV valves. Single standard 405 line TVs were being scrapped in huge numbers in the late 60s, and many people removed all the valves and hoarded them. Many TV valves have a valve code beginning with 'P'; the EF80 and ECL80 are also very common. TV pulls are worth very little.

[greenstar]

Valves like the classic audio triode P X 4 can be worth 100's, tested and good, and quite possibly may turn up in a box of old valves. If you have any it will be worth getting them tested. One safe possibility for an effortless sale is to offer the valves to a specialist auction, such as the BVWS, in batches of say, 50. You can be sure they would be examined at the viewing, and bidding would take into account any of high value. If there weren't any, you would still get a fair price, tested or not. You might be able to get someone to take them - via the fcs.
http://www.bvws.org.uk/auctions/

[Half a Mullard]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

Many TV valves have a valve code beginning with 'P'; the EF80 and ECL80 are also very common. TV pulls are worth very little.

Unless you have a PX4 of course, in which case you could be in the money!

[GrimJosef]

Or, for completeness, a PX25, again worth a pretty penny. David's comments in post #2 are a perfect summary of the current state of play. Do watch out for vultures, and do understand that someone will have to do a fair bit of work on these valves. If you don't want to do it then you'll have to pay someone else (a dealer) to, and he will factor in risk and his expensive time when he gives you a price.

Cheers,

GJ

[Boom]

Does the 'dealers price list' you have give the type numbers?

[Peter.N.]

There are thousands of ex TV valves about that are practically worthless, if they are small and have 7 or 9 pins that's probably what they will be but large valves with 4 or 5 pin bases may be more interesting. A good quality photo would be very helpful.

Peter

[Refugee]

I have got a couple of amplifiers dating from the early 1950s and the printing is missing from the valves.
If the printing was in good condition 4 out of 5 of the in each amplifier would sell for between £50 and £100 each.
Without the printing intact the amplifiers are for listening pleasure only and are used as my main audio system.
A list of type numbers is what we need here.

[Herald1360]

If you know what those valves are, and they test good, does lack of print make a huge difference? I suppose knowing the maker would help, too.

[GrimJosef]

It can do and, surprisingly, in both directions. Mullard GZ34s are highly prized. Tungsram GZ34s, even though they were made by the same people using the same materials and the same machines in the Philips/Mullard Blackburn factory, and carry the factory code to prove it, are worth less. The unscrupulous might be sorely tempted to rub the word 'Tungsram' off the valve, leaving the precious factory code of course. Hey presto, it's a Mullard !

Cheers,

GJ

[Radio Wrangler]

It makes a difference to the price others would pay for them. People pay more for valves with unfaded lettering. They also pay a lot more if there is the original manufacturer's box with them. The more confident some people are that they have the real sort of valves, the exact sort approved by the pundit they follow, the better they think the sound is. It's just more evidence that there is a belief system linked to what theyve been told, not to the music entering their ears.

David

[paulsherwin]

A lot of the audiophoolery demand is about cosmetics. There are arguments to be made that particular batches of valves from particular factories sound 'better', but for many people the important thing is ostentatious display. They want the 'right' valves up there glowing on full display, rather than hidden in cabinets as they would have been in the 50s and 60s. If they don't say 'Mullard' (or whatever) then there's much less interest.

[GrimJosef]

To be fair, if a buyer doesn't know the history of a valve then seeing one with pristine unscorched printing in an undamaged manufacturer's box might reassure him that he's getting an unused or low-mileage one rather than a pull that's close to the end of a long hard life. If I was a working musician, say, and I needed my equipment to be reliable then I might feel reasonably justified in paying a premium for that.

Likewise the good reputation of the 'golden age' volume manufacturers (e.g. Philips/Mullard, M-OV, Brimar and the big US names) did have some basis in fact compared with a few of their later/cheaper/shoddier competitors.

If the OP's valves are generally in good clean condition and recognisably branded then I think he should legitimately expect to get more for them. Just my two penn'orth of course.

Cheers,

GJ

[rufford155]

Guys, I really can't thank you enough for taking the time and trouble to make these replies, especially David.
Dipping a toe in somewhere new can always surprise!
Anyway, I had already made a list of all the codes (but not makers)and I am posting it here now to see if it helps.
I guess many are from TV's but I expect there are lots of other types too.
The wrapped valves are in brown paper and masking tape with the codes written on and I have not opened them. The loose valves all look used. None of them are in makers boxes so guess they are all 'pulls' as you say.
Thanks again, John.

Here's the list.

[turretslug]

Thanks for going to the effort of joining the forum and listing- there must be so much of this sort of thing that just gets slung out (understandable, really: "old valves" are a classic example of one man's meat, another man's poison).

I think the others on the forum here would agree that there's nothing there that will make you a fortune in the audiophile market but there are a lot of genuinely useful valves that will be handy to members for table radio and TV type applications and some are starting to get less than commonplace.

[mark pirate]

A look at the list confirms that most are TV valves, there are a fair few radio valves as well, but all are of low value and the majority are post war.

If I were selling them, I would sort the radio valves which I would offer individually, and offer the TV valves as a job lot.

Mark

[mark pirate]

Just as a guide, I have added the use. I.E. radio or TV to your list, I have left some blank as I just added the ones I am familiar with

Mark