And Oddball - what you have seen was not asking price. Asking price was 9.99.

It is now highest bid.

It has a defect,..I doubt if it was rejected because of this misstamping. I'd be glad to have it.

And I am selling it, because I have another one:

[IMG][IMG]http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/6898/jlih.jpg[/IMG] Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

When that key was made it was a simple tool, made to turn a screw. A mis-stamp like that was irrelevant to it's function and it would have been tossed into the pile like all the others. Now, drum keys have become like religious icons, kept in secret locked drawers and trotted out when company comes over.

When looked at, in the context of other coveted keys, that mis-stamp should increase the value of the key, much in the same way that a one off mis-struck coin becomes stratospheric in value to coin freaks.

There developed a vogue in Germany and to some degree elsewhere for the handle of the key to be the same as the bass drum T-rod handle or a mimick at least. The earliest Trixon keys seem to be fashioned in this way but Sonor , much like Tromsa( who they clearly relied on as suppliers, after they arrived in the west) used a simple key up to at least the 1953 catalogue. It seems that at whatever time Sonor began utilizing the oblong pointed bassdrum T-rods( 1954?) , this key replaced the older 9mm one. The cast keys were expensive to make and it was soon replaced( 1960?) by the tempered flat steel encased in plastic version.

pictured; the Sonor tempered flat steel key and the simple Sonor tube and rod key of the early 1950's.

Here is a group of tempered steel/ plastic encased German drum keys made from 1960 onwards. Tromsa, Trixon( with red and white loop cord), Trixon( with red and white loop cord), Deri/Rimmel, Sonor. The construction of these keys( especially , the shorter Trixon and the Rimmel) are so similar, that it would seem that they were all made by one manufacturer . It also seems so, for the earlier cast keys,that these replaced----in that case possibly, the Rimmel foundry.

The logo goes off the edge and is vertical unlike the other side. You are doing well with this sale. Out of my range, but it`s one of a kind.

Big yes.

jeez.... [img]http://static.musicforums.ru/agora/images/smiles/ves001.gif[/img]

Hi, here my German vintage keys:

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img14/917/n6ua.th.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img543/3138/39c2.th.jpg[/IMG]

My auction has ended. Not bad:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290946714914?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1559.l2649

Arno

Congrats Arno!!

Cheers