What's it worth?

[dsteele]

This is not a commercial or an advertisement. It's curiousity.

 

I've seen e-bay referenced several times and am addressing those folks who are familiar with it and know prices.

 

The Chief Scout Executive's Winner's Circle is a recognition program for professionals only that began with Chief Ben Love in the eighties. It has continued, and probably won't go away.

 

There's always a fancy-dancy recognition that goes to those that earn it.

 

I have on my finger a chief scout executive's winner's circle ring that I'm told is very expensive on e-bay. Has anyone seen one? What did it go for?

 

I also have a sterling silver belt buckle (what a bomb that one was in the Midwest!) I've heard that one went for $300 on e-bay. Does anyone know what it went for?

 

I looked at the site and all I saw was the leather portfolio that was last year's prize.

 

All bear the logo of the Chief Scout Executive. It's a cool logo. It's the old Boy Scout fluer-de-lis surrounded tighttly with a wreath and red, white and blue with the words Boy Scouts of America in two bands across the top and bottom.

 

They aren't for sale ... at least not mine. It's not an easy award to earn because it's based on membership and unit gains from June to June. I've actually made "the winner's circle" less than I've made quality district. 10 of 14 vs. 13 of 14.

 

We'll make it this year. Not that I'm busting my back for the leather garment bag, but it will be nice to have.

 

DS

[Eamonn]

As far as I know, they are going for a Steele !!

I owed you that one. (Private Joke.)

Being full of wise words, and useless information these are worth what you can get for them, less what ever e-bay takes.

Being as you brought up Scout Stuff for sale.

I will hop in and ask if anyone knows, where I can lay my hands on a book

Scout Pioneering, by John Sweet.

Hope you don't mind.

Eamonn -Amen. Amen.(This message has been edited by Eamonn)

[Twocubdad]

Dave, when you ran your search, did you click the "include closed sales" button? Still, I think you only get sales within the last 30 days. The other thing is that the stuff you mention is so esoteric there won't be much of it on line. The other problems you have is with the search criteria. You may end up doing a very broad search, then having to go through a lot of stuff manually.

[scoutldr]

eamonn:

If the book is out of print, try www.half.com or www.alibris.com. The former deals in used books and the latter deals in rare, OOP, and first editions.

[dsteele]

Eamonn -- I'm still laughing. You have me and I appreciate your british wit! It's told that one should not tell an Englishman a joke on Saturday because he'll break up the service on Sunday when he gets it! (Another joke, my friend.) You have shattered that myth.

 

Twocubdad -- I have no idea what I can get for these esoteric items. I know there are serious collectors out there and that Chief Scout Executive's Winner's Circle items are rare. I'm also not particularly interested in selling them (although I could be tempted.) When I ordered my ring for the 1989 circle, I got it too big by accident. It fits now and I've got it on my right ring finger for the first time in many years. I like it. In fact, that year in my council only 2 professionals (including myself) out of 16 earned it. It would be hard to give up even though it's been in a drawer forever.

 

I have no idea how e-bay works. Perhaps you could enlighten me further?

 

Thanks.

 

DS(This message has been edited by dsteele)

[packsaddle]

dsteele, in my humble opinion, you'll never get what they're really worth on eBay, no matter what the bid. This would be a different matter if you had, say, bought them at a garage sale. The difference is that they are things that mark your life's accomplishments, no-one else's. Also, after dabbling there for a while, I have concluded that if you have managed to avoid eBay this long, keep up the good work, there are better things to do.

[dsteele]

The avoidance of e-bay sounds like good advice and I'll take it. The accomplishment looks good on my resume. I did it for the good of kids, not for the hardware. However, packsaddle, you're exactly right. That's why they're not for sale.

 

DS

[scoutldr]

eBay is an on-line auction house. If you have an item to sell, you post it, maybe with a minimum bid or reserve price specified. IF you want to buy, you register and then bid away! Just search on "scout" and you will get almost 300 pages of items for sale, ranging from the common to the extremely rare (like a 1935 National Jamboree patch or a COMPLETE uniform and all accoutrements from a 1925 Eagle Scout). I enjoy just browsing and learning about Scouting history, and have spent more than I want my wife to know...a few bucks at a time. One of the saddest things I saw was an old Scouter who was "downsizing" ... he said he chose eBay because his kids would not appreciate what his collection of patches and awards meant to him and they would just get rid of it at a garage sale. He would rather share them with other scouters where he knew they would be cared for. Granted, there are dealers selling just to make a buck, but the majority of participants are scouts, scouters, and former scouts just wanting to share what they have and increase their collections. THere may be a few offenders, but this is another example of the scout law in action...at least in the Scout arena, I buy and sell with complete confidence that I won't be defrauded or stiffed. And in 3 years, I have never had a bad transaction.

[Eamonn]

Like scoutldr,I too have spent many happy hours on e-Bay.

A little while back I found two posters that I had seen about a year before. I was all over the net, looking for these, and low and behold there they were both of them.I got them for $13.00 each, and E-mailed the seller to see if they could be shipped together.

It was kind of sad, the seller was the widow of a professional scouter, who was moving and selling all the Scout Stuff.

The reason why I had been unable to find the posters, was because they had been some type of an award for the pros.

Anyway I have them now, and I'm back on E-bay looking for frames.

 

[dsteele]

You can be sad for the deceased professional and you can be sad for the widow. But don't be sad that she's selling the Scout stuff.

 

I think you'd be surprised at the number of professionals who save scout stuff specifically for sale after they retire. If the old pro's wife can make a few bucks selling stuff that probably has no sentimental value to her, I think we should salute the guy's foresite and display those posters with pride.

 

Not that I'm complaining about our retirement package -- I think National does a fantastic job of caring for those professionals who stick around long enough to retire.

 

I'm disturbed, however, by the number of professionals I know who have died within 18 months of their retirement. My (almost, but not quite serious) theory is that we can't handle the lack of stress brought about by retirement and simply drop dead.

 

My other theory of longevity is that we're all born with a finite number of heartbeats. That's why shoveling the driveway and mowing the lawn are bad for you -- you use 'em up too fast!

 

Have a nice Sunday. Don't get too unstressed and don't mow the lawn. I want to hear more from you in the future.

 

DS

[Hoosier Hills Mike]

I happened on this thread a bit ago. I have the same ring, presented to me by Ben Love at an All-Hands in Hot Springs, AR either 1990 or 1991. I have had Scouters offer impressive sums of money for the ring but I will not sell it. If anything, my son will end up with it. This thread is over 10 years old. I imagine the ring's value has gone up and down during that time but it means much more to me.

[Papadaddy]

I imagine a lot depends on what the ring is made of...gold, silver or some cheaper alloy. My HS class ring cost $36 in 1971. My son's was around $400 for the same thing in 10K gold.