Telescopes

[Ebow1]

Ok, long story short, somebody gave me a telescope when I delivered them a pizza. I've figured out it's an E. Vino Paris 40x magnification double achromatic. It seems fairly old so I was wondering if anybody here could tell me anything more about it's value or point me to someone who could. I can post pictures if necessary.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Ebow1

Just googling, saw a 40X E. Vion (not Vino) that sold on EBay for $50, and an E. Vion listed on a Christies auction site estimated value $350. The Ebay item was in pretty rough shape, but was a nice old gadget with the old-fashioned brass work. Both were described as antiques.

One good forum to ask about it, would be--

Telescope Reviews | Cloudy Nights

Another one, but I think would have to pay a little bit to join and get on the forums, is--

Astronomy News Articles, Classifieds and Telescope Reviews

[Ebow1]

I think I know the Ebay one you're talking about. The Vino thing was a typo I didn't notice. The ebay one looks about exactly like mine except mine's in better shape and the writing is scrollwork, not print. I think mine is at least a little older based on that.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I think I know the Ebay one you're talking about. The Vino thing was a typo I didn't notice. The ebay one looks about exactly like mine except mine's in better shape and the writing is scrollwork, not print. I think mine is at least a little older based on that.

Hi Ebow1

Whether you want to sell or just find out details, either of the above links would be good. Some folks who hang out there, are more obsessed with scopes than folks on this forum are obsessed with firearms.

AFAIK they would be about as good a place as any to try to sell.

There are antique scope collectors. There are threads on those forums of ancient old brass instruments that have been restored to their original 18th or 19th century glory. Many such instruments are larger than a handheld scope.

The generic wisdom seems to be-- Do not clean up any antique, because merely knocking the corrosion off some items can ruin the collector value. Dunno the fine line between ruining value by brushing off corrosion, versus enhancing the value by perfect restoration. So perhaps it is wise not to do any cleanup attempts on an antique for sale? Dunno.

[Ebow1]

I think I might hang on to it at least for a bit. Me and a buddy have ridiculous plans that involve a truck, a jolly roger flag, and that telescope, among other things.

[Guest Glock23ForMe]

I think I might hang on to it at least for a bit. Me and a buddy have ridiculous plans that involve a truck, a jolly roger flag, and that telescope, among other things.

Do tell....

[Ebow1]

Riding around town with someone in the truck bed with a Jolly Roger flag like it's a crows nest, looking through the telescope and banging on the hood and yelling things like LAND HO! as we're pulling into parking lots and other such things.

[Guest Glock23ForMe]

Nice

[kb4ns]

Riding around town with someone in the truck bed with a Jolly Roger flag like it's a crows nest, looking through the telescope and banging on the hood and yelling things like LAND HO! as we're pulling into parking lots and other such things.

Makes me think of:

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/family-guy-pirate-chase/302639

[Ebow1]

Yes, except more authentically pirate-like. I'm going to take some pictures of the telescope and try uploading them in my next post.

[Guest SUNTZU]

Be careful pulling into Walmart or Mall parking lots yelling "land ho." It upsets some girls.

[Ebow1]

Alright, let's see if this works.

[Ebow1]

That's what I thought.

[Ebow1]

Talk about upsetting some girls, my buddy made a comment about quoting Captain Ahab's speech about the white whale when, well, you can figure out the situation in which that would upset girls.

[Ebow1]

Oh, also, does anybody know the laws concerning someone being in the bed of a truck consuming alcohol? I know there's an open bottle law but does it apply to truck beds?. As entertaining as the ticket and the look on the judge's face would be for whatever minor traffic violation riding around town in the truck bed with a Jolly Roger and a telescope singing "what do you do with a drunken sailor?" would be, I wouldn't want to have an alcohol related violation tacked on to that.