Al Furstnow spurs
Posted by Dennis Lee (+8) 13 years ago
I have a pair of Al Furstnow silver inlaid spurs my father purchased in Miles City 1929. I would like to get an idea of what they might be worth. Dennis Lee
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Posted by Lorin Dixson (+590) 13 years ago
Are they complete with strap? Do you want to sell them or just value them? I don't know that Al made the spurs possibly only the straps. It really depends on the spurs but if they are inlaid they would have a pretty good value. I had my Grandfathers, but they were stolen in a burglary. From what I have seen EBay will usually get what they are worth if you were wanting to sell them. put them on a long enough auction that the collectors will see them. Also be sure you put good pictures on, bad pictures are worse than no pictures. And it would be disastrous to put something like that on without photos.
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Posted by Dennis Lee (+8) 13 years ago
They are complete. The straps are marked Al Furstnow - no marks on the metal. There are 5 silver inlays with engraving on each spur.

I will decide about selling them or not after I get an idea of what they might be worth.

My father was not a cowboy - he was from Iowa and went to Miles City to make his mark I guess. It did not work out - he was back in Iowa before long and never pursued the cowboy thing again. He did keep the spurs however but never said much about his experiences in Miles City.
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Posted by Lorin Dixson (+590) 13 years ago
Also for a more local market I think the January horse sale at billings livestock includes a tack sale it may be to late to get them catoluged though. You could email them pictures They are pretty straight shooters, and would set a reserve at what they feel they are worth. I think the January sale is the only sale that they advertise for bits, spurs, saddles and other collectibles. You could also put a picture on here and get some offers that you could take or turn down, where with a auction you would have to pay a percentage of the highest bid if you no saled them. That sounds like the best idea to see what the local market would bear at no cost to you. It is pretty easy to put pictures on this.
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Posted by Lorin Dixson (+590) 13 years ago
Dennis. Another source you might use is cabincreekcds.com They have catalog # 32 on CD you can order it. chances are you could find your spurs in the catalog to document them. If there is no makers mark on the spurs you will need something to document them. I still hope you will post pictures of them on here. I have no idea of the value, but would make an offer of what they would be worth to me.
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Posted by Lorin Dixson (+590) 13 years ago
Dennis emailed me these photos I have no idea of their value can anyone help him? They appear to be iron spurs with silver inlay. This seems to be as big as I could make the image on photo bucket, there is quite a bit of cracking on the leather that doesn't show in these small img.










[This message has been edited by Lorin Dixson (1/19/2010)]
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Posted by Cindy Stalcup (+592) 13 years ago
An appraisal from a Western collectibles expert should only cost about $20. The value will be determined by the maker since they're considered Western art. The Furstnow spur straps will have a value of their own. If someone has a Furstnow catalog from the 20's it might list the spur maker's name.
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Posted by Dennis Lee (+8) 13 years ago
Thanks for all the great input. Does anyone know of an expert for an appraisal? Dennis Lee
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Posted by Dennis Lee (+8) 10 years ago
I still have the spurs if anyone is interested. Dennis Lee
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Posted by Earl (+77) 10 years ago
How much do you want for them ?
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