U.S.N. Binoculars

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Our city had a "Junk Fest" today. Part of it was a flea market held down at the county fairgrounds which is a few blocks down our street. Anyhow we went out and checked things out from early in the morning till about 11 a.m. One of the first items we found (actually Kim spotted it for me! ) was a book called "Their War" "German Combat Photographs From The Archives Of Signal" by Will Fowler and Mike Rose... for all of $5!

Then at the same dealers section I spotted a pair of binoculars sticking out of a brown leather case. Well, I took a chance and pulled them out and they turned out to be United States Navy binoculars. Funny enough I've always wanted a pair of these since my cruise on the U.S.S. Lexington and having to use a pair as part of my duties on board.

Anyhow... it's missing one part of the eyepiece as you'll see in the photos and both eyepieces are missing their rubber eye cups. Other than that they look great and after getting them home and carefully getting the focus knobs to loosen up (frozen solid (not tempt wise!) when I bought them today) they now function perfectly and have a nice clear view!

On this one the full inscription is:

BU. AERO. U.S. NAVY

MARK 21

F.S.S.C. 88-B-320

[Hauptmann]

[Hauptmann]

And last but not least the case that came with them:

I just knew at the time that these were not original to these binoculars even though the dealer insisted they were. The mountings where the case strap would attach screamed 60's-70's period like on Poloroid camera cases to me. The Binocs also did not completely fit into the case. And the maker info on the case is SWIFT and on the bottom is Made In Japan.

Don't get me wrong... it's a very nice heavy duty case in pretty decent condition... but not original to these binoculars.

When I got home I checked out listings on Ebay and found an exact match to these for over $300 and I'm wondering if this is correct and if these are indeed worth anywhere in that neighborhood? Not that I'm intro'd in selling them but am just curious how well I did... as I got them for the grand sum of $15! He'd listed them for $18, I'd offered $12 due to the missing piece and the frozen focus knobs... he said $15 and I couldn't pass them up.

Here's what I found: Ebay Number 270168334668

I tried to copy the URL but it kept messing up and wouldn't connect to it... many apologies!

Any opinions, info, etc., would be deeply appreciated!

Dan

Edited September 23, 2007 by Hauptman

[hunyadi]

Dan - very nice find - I would bet that a lens piece wont be too hard to find if you look hard enough. Wish I could comment on the value for you, but not knowing what these go for I cant. One reason for the mismatched case is that it may have been "smuggled" out by the previous owner(s) hence the last owner adamant that it was original to the glasses. Very nice find still!

[Hauptmann]

Dan - very nice find - I would bet that a lens piece wont be too hard to find if you look hard enough. Wish I could comment on the value for you, but not knowing what these go for I cant. One reason for the mismatched case is that it may have been "smuggled" out by the previous owner(s) hence the last owner adamant that it was original to the glasses. Very nice find still!

Hi Charles,

Many thanks my friend. At first when they were frozen up I figured if I couldn't fix them I'd resell on Ebay and I knew I could get more than I'd paid. But didn't realize at the time these were one of the ones that went quite so high. Seems they're running around $250 to $350 range. But now that I've got them working methinks they're the perfect addition to the collection and it kills off yet another long time goal I've had. Plus they're great binocs! Can't beat that for the price I paid. And I'm sure I'll be able to find the proper case for them down the road.

Sure am glad I got up early to go hit the sales. Was an exhausting day but well worth it.

Dan