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  • De Luxe Mettalscope

    Hello,

    I am looking for some detail/pricing on a de luxe metallascope. From what I found this was a Fisher product that was one of the first metal detectors starting back in 1931.

    I have a few images but I only have the schematic (taped on the inside lid), which matches the contents of the box to go on for identification. It has 6 tubes in one box and one tube in the other. I have not been able to locate anything that matches this to confirm it online. I have pics of the outside of both boxes, the inside of the box with the label. The second box has a single tube, and an early 1900 military headset (from what I was able to gather) and appears to be the receiver/output device.

    My father died back in 2004 and I had all his stuff boxed up and came up with this as I have started going through his things. I would like to try and date and price this, with your help, if possible.

    Didnt see an option to attach images. If you think you may have detail on interest please email let me know and I will email pics.

    Thanks,
    Christopher

  • #2
    Some information for you...

    Originally posted by quagsmire View Post
    Hello,

    I am looking for some detail/pricing on a de luxe metallascope. From what I found this was a Fisher product that was one of the first metal detectors starting back in 1931.

    I have a few images but I only have the schematic (taped on the inside lid), which matches the contents of the box to go on for identification. It has 6 tubes in one box and one tube in the other. I have not been able to locate anything that matches this to confirm it online. I have pics of the outside of both boxes, the inside of the box with the label. The second box has a single tube, and an early 1900 military headset (from what I was able to gather) and appears to be the receiver/output device.

    My father died back in 2004 and I had all his stuff boxed up and came up with this as I have started going through his things. I would like to try and date and price this, with your help, if possible.

    Didnt see an option to attach images. If you think you may have detail on interest please email let me know and I will email pics.

    Thanks,
    Christopher
    Christopher,
    Gerhard Fisher first came out with a detector in 1925, then in 1929 he came out with a better unit. It was originally called a Metallascope. And from what I found on it in the web, it cost around $200 at that time, and was fairly heavy, had tubes in it, and weighed around 22 pounds.

    I found one photo of a M-Scope, I belive the "M" stood for the word "Metallascope". I put it below for your comparison. The one in the photo was made 1946-1948 from my information.

    From what you are saying, I believe you have a newer model, called a "two-box" unit, which later on was called a Gemini model. I used to sell the Gemini 2-box units when I was a Fisher dealer, but they were not tube units. They were solid state electonic models. Perhaps Fisher came out with the two box units in 1931, I just do not know that for sure... The two box units were more for finding larger pieces of metal, not so much for coins and rings and jewelry, but more for buried things like buried chests, buried tool boxes with valuables, etc.

    Now as far as a price or a value, keep in mind you are dealing with vacumn tubes there, and no one wants them. Only a die hard collector will want one, as 9 times out of 10, some of the tubes will be defective, and you cannot buy vacumn tubes today, except as collectables and from vacumn tube collectors. So you have a double problem.

    Now you can find some of the rare batterys, or figure out how to power it up, and if it works, well that would be a different story. Otherwise you are trying to dispose of it "as is". If you are wanting to sell it you might try to post it in eBay, in the vintage metal detector section, sell it as is, put plenty of photos of it there, and start it out low so as not to preclude buyers bidding on it.

    I just found a patent for the two box unit with vacumn tubes, the patent was issued in 1937. So that could date your unit. If he made some "patent pending" yours could pre-date 1937. If not, then yours might be after 1937. If you want to email me I can send you this patent.
    Melbeta
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Melbeta; 06-25-2012, 06:10 PM. Reason: further information

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    • #3
      Thank you for the detail.

      Comment

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