Blair - the 15 is about 890 (.89Kg) grams and the 18.5 K is around 1655 grams (1.655 Kg. I have a small scale that reads to 11.5 Kg - it's not the most accurate but I'd say within 5 grams or so.

If I was going to put a value on the 15 what would it be? I have no idea because when I look online (eBay for instance) the prices are all over the place. Also, I'd like to be comparing 'apples to apples' as in "same K Stamp and year to same K Stamp and year.

Gary

I'm pretty sure its a type IIb old stamp from 1945-1949 because of the large star in what Bill called the "thick Crescent", the general position of the large K, and the fact that the components are spread apart. All these details are documented in his original timeline and are quite different from the IIIa old stamp. The K is slightly higher than is typical for this type and doesn't align with Zildjian on the top but Bill indicates that not true for all cases.

"Type lib old stamp 1949-1950

This type also has the thick crescent and the large star as in the previous 2 types. As in the type lIa trademark, the components are spread apart. The presence of the large 'K' is the main difference between this and the type lIa. Both this type and the type lIa have what I call the thick crescent and the large star. As will be shown in the next examples, the type III's have the thin crescent and small star. Because both the type II and type III trademarks have the large 'K', then the best way to tell the II's from the III's is by looking for this characteristic. In some cases where the star and crescent may not have been stamped in well enough for this to be used as an identifying feature, then the location of the 'K' becomes the next best method to use. This example shows the usual location of the 'K' for this trademark. Typically it's located so that the top of the large 'K' is even with the tops of the letters in the word 'Zildjian'. In the type III stamps the bottom of the 'K' is usually even with the bottom of the letters in the word 'Zildjian', but it should be painted out that this is true for the majority but not necessarily in all cases."

BosLover - lots of information there - thanks. So the 15 is probably 45-49. The 18 probably IIIb 53-56?

I honestly only looked at the 15 inch not the 18", but I'm pretty confident about the 15.

looking at eBay sales - 1940's Zildjian - mine may be worth about $100. Does that seem right? I'm not looking at K's or Type IIb stamps - just 1940's Zildjian - so it might be hard to compare.

garu

The reason I'm looking at prices right now is that today I was thinking maybe I would be willing to sell the Red Sparkle early (mid?) 50 3ply Gretsch kit and maybe this cymbal that came with the kit too. I'm considering downsizing my collection.......considering.

Are you saying $100 for the 15 old stamp K? Here's my record of 15" sales.

[img]http://black.net.nz/cym2015/k-15-hats.jpg[/img]

Old stamps generally sell for more than Intermediate or New Stamp Istanbul Ks, and old K prices shouldn't be mixed up with North American made Ks or any old As because they are different in terms of pricing.

So for old stamp 15" I'd say more like $200-$300, but there isn't a lot of evidence.

For the 18" I'd say $700 - $900 expected range for an old stamp K, versus the expected range of $500-750 for Intermediate or New Stamps (which are more common). But I'm reading from an older summary (as at mid 2014) and I've collected but not yet analyzed more data since then. I'm still really in data collecting mode rather than analysis mode, waiting for sufficient sample sizes to build up over time. Note I don't break my analysis (or recording) into finer distinctions than Old, Intermediate, New because you need categories with sufficient sample sizes to get stable estimates.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Zenstat - now I have a ballpark for my 15 and 18.5

Thanks Gary. I hoped what little I've got might give a ballpark idea. But no guarantees of course: you get what you get on the day when you sell them. Prices are really quite variable when you get to the level of individual pieces.

I just noticed that if the larger diameter one is 18.5" then it is more like a notional 19". They did make 19" cymbals but they aren't as common. Not as in big price premium rare, but just not so many of them out there. I've got one 19" New stamp recorded out of maybe 230 sales (all diameters). So no price info, and using the 18" info is maybe a bit low. You could factor the 20" OS data into your thinking as well:

[img]http://black.net.nz/cym2015/20-OS-K-2.png[/img]

but a notional 19" would still sit below the low end of the 20" price range. For reading this table, -3 under bids means the auction was stopped and I've recorded the asking price (or current bid when it was pulled). And "munted" as in "hole munted" is a local slang term meaning "damaged". We refer to Christchurch after the Earthquake as "mega munted" which "severely damaged". NOS in condition is New Old Stock. I've got a whole page of codes and meanings...

Those old Ks aren't usually exact inch sizes (usually a bit undersized) so one has to make do. Even modern cymbals made in Turkey seem to continue that tradition of being a bit undersized. Usually people just refer them at the "notional" size and that's how I record them in my database as well.