Hensley & Gibbs #68 4-cavity mold value?

[kraigster414]

Back in the early '80s, I was very big into bullet casitng. One of my prized possessions, greased up and stored all these years, is a H&G (made by H&G not a clone) #68 .452 200 gr. 4-cavity mold with handle. Back then and I suspect today, it was the gold standard in bullet molds and cast bullet design/weight for the .45 ACP. Does anyone know what it is worth? Mine is in mint condition. Thanks.

[felix]

As anything, it depends on the buyer and his desire for it. ... felix

[Texasflyboy]

Does anyone know what it is worth?

I will give you two values:

Value #1 : My opinion, worth what you paid for it - a 4 cavity #68 in excellent condition with handles should bring at least $250 on eBay.

Value #2 : Go to the Hensley & Gibbs Bullet mould reference web page (look below, it's my sig line) and scroll down the page. You will see an Excel Spreadsheet link that has almost 1,000 ebay auctions that I've tracked. There are numerous #68 moulds listed there with notes. Look for the tab that sorts the list by high bid, and then look for #68.

And last, since I've been tracking auctions (about 1998 or so) values seem to be appreciating about 10% to 20% on average, with some moulds touching 30% in the last two years.

[kraigster414]

I will give you two values:

Value #1 : My opinion, worth what you paid for it - a 4 cavity #68 in excellent condition with handles should bring at least $250 on eBay.

Value #2 : Go to the Hensley & Gibbs Bullet mould reference web page (look below, it's my sig line) and scroll down the page. You will see an Excel Spreadsheet link that has almost 1,000 ebay auctions that I've tracked. There are numerous #68 moulds listed there with notes. Look for the tab that sorts the list by high bid, and then look for #68.

At last, since I've been tracking auctions (about 1998 or so) values seem to be appreciating about 10% to 20% on average, with some moulds touching 30% in the last two years.

Thank you very much TFB! :)

[hammerhead357]

fwiw. 4 years ago I wanted to sell a matched pair of H & G 4 cavity #68 bb moulds and was asking 300,00 for them and caught all kinds of flack about the price but they went to South Africa for that amount plus a little shipping. The moulds were flown there by a friend of the buyer. I think flyboy may be a little high but what the heck you just can't order a new set of them today........ Wes

[kraigster414]

fwiw. 4 years ago I wanted to sell a matched pair of H & G 4 cavity #68 bb moulds and was asking 300,00 for them and caught all kinds of flack about the price but they went to South Africa for that amount plus a little shipping. The moulds were flown there by a friend of the buyer. I think flyboy may be a little high but what the heck you just can't order a new set of them today........ Wes

I think Fly Boy is spot on. Go to Ebay and search item# 7229106880 (this is the exact same mold I have). Used but in excellent condition it went for $281.00.

[Texasflyboy]

The #1 question I was always asked when I started my Hensley & Gibbs website was always:

"What is my mould worth?".

I usually had no idea. There were so many variables, that I never felt comfortable telling someone what *I* thought they were worth, without having some basis for my estimate. I always thought mine were priceless....:mrgreen:

Fortunately, when I started using an eBay management tool (Auction Sentry) it came with a built in database manager. So, I started tracking every Hensley & Gibbs auction that came on eBay, or Auction Arms.

After two years, I was able to predict mould values *before* an auction to about $20 of its eventual selling value on eBay.

The odd variable that always throws me off if when a buyer has access to unlimited cash, as in the case of the recent $400+ #503 4 cavity that sold on eBay. I was surprised....twice!

I am aware of private sales that I have brokered where moulds have sold in excess of $1,500/pair (A matched pair of #503 8 cavity moulds made in 1965, and a matched pair of #130's made in 1990). It happens about three or four times a year or so it seems. Lotta sellers and buyers don't want to advertise their sales, so they sometimes ask for my help. I try to get them to see the wisdom of an eBay sale, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

For some folks, they just want what they want and once they find what they are looking for, price is their least concern.

I can't afford some of the prices that moulds seem to be fetching these days...:(

FWIW...

[kraigster414]

TFB, message sent. I also have the handle and the serial number is clearly marked on the mold. I will gladly provide if that has any bearing on the value. Again, thank you very much.

[Petander]

Hey , a funny coincidence here:

I just replied to a PM where I casually mentioned my 45 acp as a "zero problem caliber ever since I got a H&G 200 grain SWC mold some years ago".


I don´t remember what I paid for it but it´s been worth every penny. It was not insanely expensive though, maybe $ 150 or so.

It drops exceptional bullets that work beautifully on my two Colts, a Gold Cup and a Combat Elite. Good stuff, easy casting. I wasn´t sure what I was getting, now this is one of my most valuable molds in terms of quality and ease of use.


EDIT: This is an original H&G, definitely.