CS Bell #3

[eigdeh]

Howdy!

I just got a school bell that has the following markings on the Bell

Side one - No 8 yoke 3 1886
Side two - CS Bell & Co Hillsboro Co

The piece that holds the bell has Crystal Metal and the Number 3 on one side. The other side has some marking too, but it is getting too dark out to read.

The bell measures 18 inches across the bottom of the bell.

Anyone have any idea how much these are worth?

I went to a site about the CS Bell co and there is a sillouette of a bell that looks just like mine, but the hanging part that hits the bell does not hang down below the bell as in the image. Did all clankers(?) hang below the bell?

EDIT: Actually I do not have the bell hanging at the moment, but I do remember that when I put the bell down on the ground the clapper(?) did hit the ground before the bell and I had to slowly move the bell sideways till it sat flat, but it probably does not hang by more than an inch.

Thanks!

Ken

[Neil Goeppinger]

Ken, For an idea of the value of a dinner bell, put "prindle station" in google and go to their site. They bought the casting moulds for the C. S. Bell Co dinner bells. On their order form you will find the current prices.

For more information on the firm which made your bell, click the home page of this site (the ABA), then click Library, then click Bell Basics, and finally click the article: C. S. Bell Co of Hillsboro, Ohio. There's more there than you'll want to know. -- Neil

[admin]

....or go to < http://www.prindlestation.com/ > directly.

and, for direct jump access to the Bell Talk Forum article click here --> http://www.americanbell.org/belltalk/viewtopic.php?t=47

[eigdeh]

Thanks Neil and Admin! The info is greatly appreciated!

[Neil Goeppinger]

If you will go to the bottom of this C. S. Bell Co forum list of postings, to the message "C. S. Bell Co - information from our library". The author is listed at "admin." and the right column is dated Jan 6, 2005. Click on the name of the article and it will lead you through a couple of clicks to an article I wrote some time ago about this firm and its bells. There you will find a paragraph on values. Also, if you go to Prindlesatation in Google, you will find the web site of the firm which bought the patterns for bells from C. S. Bell Co and they still make dinner bells. Go to thier order form and you will find the current price of their bells. That will give you a guide.

Yes, it is normal for the clapper to hang down below the bell, and it is best to remove the clapper from a large bell before moving it so the rod on an iron or steel bell doesn't bend, and so the top doesn't get broken out of a bronze bell. -- Neil