Adam Ernst and Fredrick Sell

[louieparker]

In the recent Julia auction ,  in your opinion, why did the Fredrick Sell bring so much more than the Adam Ernst  ??.......LP

[Mike Gahagan]

Fredrick Sell proably has the more collectable name.I personally liked the Ernst rifle better,but I would have paid more for the Sell also.Go figure.

[JTR]

So how much did they sell for?

I heard from one guy that he thought the Sell went for $180K or something like that, but his old brain couldn't pull up an actual number! Guess that happens when ya get old! 

If the Sell went for appreciably more it would have to be due to name recognition as Mike mentions, as the Ernst was certainly the better rifle,,, at least to me...

John

[Frank Graves]

The sell went for a total of $195,500 and the Ernst for $74,750 according to Julia's folks.

[Fullstock longrifle]

That's quite a price discrepancy between the Ernst and the Sell.  I suppose everybody's right about the name recognition, and the Sell is a terrific rifle, but the Ernst is the better of the two in my humble opinion.  $195,500.00 must be a new auction record for a Kentucky rifle.  With the buyers premium, that would put it over two hundred grand!  Correct me if I'm wrong, but the next closest (price wise) was a John Armstrong rifle wasn't it, and that one only brought a little over $100,000.00, maybe grand golden age Kentucky's are finally coming into their own.

FK

[louieparker]

The Ernst I have admired for years ..So I thought my opinion might be a bit slanted ..but seems so far most of the answers have agreed with my feelings ..Not to take anything away from the Sell its a great gun..One of the top , if not the top Sell ..Also its in slightly better condition than the Ernst.. But not that much !  But maybe enough to make a difference to some buyers..      I too  think the name recognition certainly played a big role . I don't think I would have been surprised that the Sell brought more money , but I certainly wasn't prepared for that much !!

The quoted price included the add on,

[rlm]

I don't remember the price but I think that recently a silver inlaid John Small rifle soundly shattered the 100K mark. It too was sold by Julia's if memory serves me correctly.

[JTR]

I think that great John Small rifle sold for a bit less than the Sell,,, $160K or thereabouts!
John

[mr. no gold]

The John Small rifle sold for $182K if memory serves. To my eye, the Sell was 'just another Sell' gun, and not to my taste. Guess that I'm not a Sell fancier. I owned one once for a few days, and got rid of it. One of the few pieces that I let go.
Someone out there is obviously a devotee of Sell and paid dearly for the privilege. The Ernst far outshown the Sell and sold for less than half. Crazy, it should have been the reverse. The  former is one of the 25 top Kentucky rifles. As it stands, it is someone's retirement account and next time, I predict that the price will go out of sight. Dang, wish I were rich!
Dick

[J. Talbert]

Just curious, how does one find these rifles on the Julia site?

Thanks
Jeff

[louieparker]

Go to Julia auction, click on firearms division , then on current auction ,I believe they are in section 2 ..I think that will get you there ....LP

[J. Talbert]

Thanks Louie, I found them.

Jeff