Re: [CR]"Mint" - was Fun Spectating: Big dollar Simplex on eBay...

(Example: Framebuilders:Cecil Behringer)

Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 09:07:33 -0800
From: "Jeanette Bell" <jet@sciti.com>
To: fred_rednor@yahoo.com
Cc: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]"Mint" - was Fun Spectating: Big dollar Simplex on eBay...
References: <20011126042720.45342.qmail@web11904.mail.yahoo.com>


Fred, The term "mint" and "NOS" get bandied about quite a bit on ebay when bicycle parts are concerned. In the guitar world, "mint" means never used, like in other areas of collecting interest; but in the bicycle world it seems that "mint" means "never crashed". Just an observation. Joe Bell San Diego

Fred Rafael Rednor wrote:
> One thing that struck me in this eBay auction was the
> use of the term "mint". When I collected stamps and
> coins (well, I still collect stamps) "mint" item was
> tantamount to being absolutely unused and essentially
> indistinguishable from an item that was just taken
> from the manufacturer - or the mint in the case of
> coins and stamps.
> Yet here is a derailleur that has a used pulley
> and scratched decals - "Near Mint" in my view but
> not quite truly mint condition. I bring this up
> here because, often times, pieces have been offered
> for sale on this list and have been described as
> mint when they too have seen some use.
> I realize that there will always be difficulty in
> distinguishing between "Very Good" and "Excellent"
> but I really would expect the term Mint to have the
> same meaning when used with bike parts that it has
> when referring to other collectable items.
> Best regards,
> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia
>
>
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