You may see sold item descriptions and photos left up below. I often do this as reference and informational material for collectors.

All items subject to prior sale. Please include item number with your inquiry. (These are our inventory numbers, not manufacturer's number.)

All prices of items on this page include shipping in the USA. Additional photos will be provided on request.

#132 ... 1905 Vibroplex.

Ready for your cleaning and restoration, here is the scarce first model Vibroplex.Dating from 1905, the type A1 nameplate reads "The Vibroplex, patented Aug. 9, 1904, by Horace G. Martin, New York." The serial number, stamped on the damper support, is 1197.

Three items identify this as the first model: the A1 nameplate, the long screw in the damper frame used to adjust the rest position of the swing-arm, and the use of lock screws (rather than jam nuts) in the ends of the frame arms to secure the position on the stop screws.

As seen in the photos, the base finish is worn, the single weigh is missing its screw, and the contact screws and jam nut are (after over 100 years) replacements. This early Vibroplex awaits your attention.
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$2,950.

#205ETHG left handed Vibroplex Model X.

A left-handed Model X Vibroplex bug. Unusually fine condition. One other LH model X is said to exist, but I also heard that its condition was not as nice as this one. Serial number 599xx on a C1 type nameplate dates it to 1917.
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$9,950.

#608GER Norcross Vibroplex double lever.

Horace Martin Vibroplex, United Elec. Mfg. Co., Norcross Ga. double lever. This dates to 1907.
Two years after starting production of the Vibroplex in New York, Martin moved to Georgia for two years. First he produced a few keys in Norcross under UEM, then a few more in Atlanta under Martin Manufacturing Company. This is one of the early Georgia bugs.

Good condition. The weight does not look original. This would be a fine addition to your Martin/Vibroplex collection.
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$5,990.

#308BAR Mecograph Premier by Vibroplex.

This is the only known Mecograph made by the Vibroplex Company after it acquired the Mecograph company in 1913. See this page for complete information on this bug.

$9,950.

#034BUN Bunnell radio sideswiper.

This is the scarce Bunnell radio sideswiper a/k/a/ double speed key or Cootie key. Unlike landline telegraph keys, it has no circuit closer. It has heavy contacts for early spark radio work. This key is on a Bakelite base which is mounted on a cast iron sub-base. The Bakelite is stamped "patented, J.H. Buynnell& Co. Inc., New York USA."

It is in very good original condition including its three rubber feet. There is a crack in the Bakelite below the right hand wire terminal.
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$2,450.

BBROS Complete collection of Brown Bros. keys.

This is the only known complete collection of Brown Brothers keys. These keys were made between 1964 and the late 1970s. This collection contains all nine of the complete keys made by Brown Bros, plus a UTL and a CTL-B Keyer. The collection includes the ST (straight key with trunnion pivots) and ST-A (straight key with leaf springs), BTL and BTL-A (twin lever paddles, trunnion and leaf springs), CTL, CTL-A and CTL-B (combination paddle and straight key, combinatons of trunnions and leaf springs), the scarce CSA (combination bug and ST straight key, both trunnion pivots, advertised only once and six known), and the rare BSL (my nomenclature since BB never advertised it, a single lever paddle using the trunnion pivot frame of the bug, three known).

Brown Bros also offered the UTL/UTL-A, the paddle mechanism of the BTL/BTL-A but without a base. This was offered as a component to be added to a keyer (as I recall, Palomar usd it in their keyer). Since it has no base or terminals, it is not considered a complete paddle. I will also include the UTL shown here.

Also found is a Brown Bros CTL-B Keyer. It is not known whether this was made by BB or someone else. It has a keyer IC board, toggle switch, rotary pot and slide pot; see this photo. Two of these (the other has somewhat dfferent parts location of the controls) are known; the one shown here will be included with this collection.

Left side of shelf.
Right side of shelf.
BSL on left, CSA on right.

$14,950.

#405 Bat Key.

Only a few bugs having full-dimension cast bases are known. (By that I mean those with cast-in protrusions, pivot frames, etc, and I exclude, for example, the simple flat cast base of the early Vibroplex bugs.) The McElroy Mac-Keys cast bases include the pivot frame and damper support. The scarce O.E. Cote is another (see The Vail Correspondent, no. 7, April 1994). And here is one more - from the shape of the upper pivot support plate, I call it the "bat key."

One or two other Bat Keys are known to exist, and they all seem to have come out of Canada. Other than that, nothing is known of their origin. The cast base, with its longitudinal ridge and four cast-in streamlined posts supporting the upper plate, is both unusual and artistic -- and heavy. This key weighs over four pounds! It is not known whether all bat-keys were assembled identically or if the maker used random parts at hand when assembling them to the base (the wire terminals differ on those known).
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$3,950.

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