The Brass Penn Saltwater reel that got away

[Reelman2]

About 25 years ago I was new to reel collecting. I had been to a tackle auction in Mattoon, Il where I bought Karl Whites book. He happened to be there and had bought a few things. He was kind enough to sign my book for me. So for a while that was what I was using as my reference book. Shortly thereafter I happened to find a man from Charleston, Il who bought and sold reels and lures. I bought a few common reels from him. One day I was in his shop and happen to see a grungy looking old Penn Saltwater reel. It was solid brass. I asked him how much he wanted for the reel and he said he wasn't sure if he wanted to sell it. He said, "Why don't you take it home and see if you can clean it up some. So I took it home and cleaned it up the best I could but it still looked kind of grubby. So I thought perhaps I could contact someone from the Penn Co. to give me some info about the reel. I don't remember if someone told me who to contact or if I called the company. At any rate, I wound up getting in touch with one of the big shots from Penn who was very interested in the reel. He asked me if I would send him the reel to see if he could find out any info about it. So I mailed the reel off to him. About 6 weeks later I got the reel back in the mail. When I opened the box, there was the reel and it looked brand new. I called him and he told me that he had dipped the reel in the solution that they used to clean reels with. He didn't charge me a dime. He stated that it must be a proto-type or something. Well, I took the reel to the owner of it and he was very happy with it. I asked him how much he wanted for the reel and he said $40. I was pretty poor back then and didn't have the money. A short time later he sold the reel to someone. I wonder what that reel is worth today. I didn't even get a picture of it.

[m3040c]

Now I would really love to see a picture of that reel. As far as I know, the only way a Penn reel would be brass is if the parts had not been plated. From time to time a reel will surface with a bare brass spool, but seeing a reel right out of the factory left in full brass would be very unusual. Prototypes are never supposed to leave the plant, but of course, some do.

I have a Penn International 130 with un-finished parts, the only one I have ever seen like this. It never should have left the factory but somehow it wound up on eBay and I grabbed it.





I have seen a number of Penn reels with the chrome plating removed, some have even been polished out. But, that was always done by someone doing some of their own customizing.

Do you remember what model your reel was?

[Reelman2]

That reel was solid brass; even the side plates. It was about the size of a Senator with freespool on the rim. Wish I knew then what I know now.

[m3040c]

That is another category of reel. A first concept, maybe. I have only seen one Penn brass side plate. Very rare stuff. Too bad that reel got away.