(Matthews, N.C.) – An extremely rare American Ammunition Company Smokeless 12-gage empty shell box, one of only a few examples known and in nice condition, sold for a new world record price of $6,859 in an Internet and catalog auction that went online Sept. 1 and concluded the weekend of Sept. 27-28. The sale was conducted by SoldUSA.com, the premier hunting collectibles auction site.
The box featured the American flag in the center, and was surrounded by American shields and red and blue banners. The integrity of the box was very sound, with a correct label on the bottom. It showed some light soiling and edge wear, but was otherwise in fine condition, with no fading. The end panel clearly read, “Long Brass, Smokeless Powder, 3-1/8 Drams – 1-1/4 Oz. – No. 7-1/2 Chilled.”
“Even with the tumbling of the world’s financial markets to record lows, we experienced high and record prices in this sale,” said Chris Roberts, president of SoldUSA.com. “Once everyone got warmed up, it was clear the economy wasn’t going to affect us at all. New world record prices were set for ammunition and advertising lots, and very high prices were realized for general store merchandise.”
Mr. Roberts attributed the sale’s success, in large part, to the general store items. “This is a new area of selling for us and we hope it will become a staple for us in future auctions.” In all, 935 lots changed hands (of the 1,000 or so offered). About 2,200 bidders participated, literally from around the world, most of them online. There were also 150 phone and fax bids recorded, plus some e-mail bids.
“We were actually kind of worried about this auction, right up to the ending day,” Mr. Roberts commented. “We saw huge numbers of people viewing our advertisings and our auctionzip.com page (ID #13906), and we had registered over 500 new people to our extensive mailing list. But bidding got off to a slow start until the last few days of the sale, when it seemed everyone suddenly got real busy.”
The top lot of the auction was a very rare and fully correct A.L. Hall (Seattle, Wash.) shell box, featuring a hunter in the field and a setter in the foreground with a quail in its mouth. The piece soared to $8,294, also setting a new world record price. The integrity of the box was sound and its overall condition fine, with no fading. The shells were in fine original condition, with the correct top wads.
SoldUSA.com’s next big sale will go online in mid-November and conclude Dec. 13-14. The auction will feature general store items, hunting and fishing collectibles, militaria and other quality lots. Consignments are still being accepted for this and future sales. To consign an item, estate or collection, you may call them directly, at (704) 815-1500; or, you can e-mail them at [email protected].
For more information about SoldUSA.com and its calendar of upcoming auctions, you can log on to www.SoldUSA.com.