The watch was one of Bill's day wear watches.Just a Timex. It was given to me by the person who bought several of Bill's better watches. I had given the lady a handle that bill had cut out and marked for drilling for a small Moran knife. She had purchased one of the unmounted blades (her husband will mount and finish the knife).I will clean the movement and put it in the case with the other Moran items.Over the past several years I have assembled a nice Moran collection of things he made,his original price sheets and catalogs,lots of photos,and other things. I have them in two display display cases that I take to shows and hammer-ins.They will be at the Dixie Classic Hammer-in in two weeks (Winston-Salem,NC)
There were some deep pocket people there. I sat next to one person who must have spent $30,000.00,maybe more. There was so much stuff for sale that there was something for everyone. Some items (even a box of items) went for $1,many for $5-15,Average lot was around $45. There was big money spent on the finished knives,from $1000 for a poor kitchen knife to $6500+ for a nice knife,The unmarked finished knives were better deals,ranging from $200 to $1000.The unfinished blades were the real deal. They went form $100 to $400,most around $200.
There were a couple of Ebay sellers there who bought every odd lot of "junk" stuff available (and some better things).Keep a check on Ebay for some Moran items to come up.
The trailer load of metal,some not made anymore, was sold in batches. The selling price was probably $.10 on the dollar or less of actual value.(But there was a ton of steel ). The wood took up half of a big auction tent. It was the best deal of the auction. You could get a 2-3" thick plank ,five feet long and one foot wide of Bill's select curly maple for $100. A shorter plank for $40. There were four HUGE planks of basswood for carving decoys.They were 6'X 10"X6" and went for $15 each.Bill wrote notes on lots of his wood,like - "cut here","very good", and dated most all of his planks as to when he put them up for drying (July 1985,etc.) He had drawn out the handle shapes he was going to cut on many smaller pieces.
A box of about 30-40 prime sambar stag crowns went for $300,all had been pre-worked by Bill and were ready to mount the blades.
There was a pallet of leather.Shoulder hides of tooling leather went for $40. Kudu hides for about the same.Boxes of leather pieces went for $10. Sharkskin hides for $50.
Unfinished walking sticks went for as cheap as $10-20,some nice ones a little more ,the finished and signed sticks brought $1000.
Bill had enough guns, ammunition, and reloading supplies to start his own army. I did purchase an antique long gun he was working on - I'll finish the restoration. I paid $25.It was found stuck up in the overhead rafters of the shop. I bough a box lot of misc. muzzle loader parts. In it was a cigar box that appears to be all the hardware for this gun ,paid $15 for the whole box. The cigar box was found tucked away in a niche,and hadn't been touched in many years. Kismet was that I bought the box of parts on Friday at the shop,and the gun on Saturday at the house.I think the reason it went so cheap was that the hardware was missing.).The prime guns brought $1000 or so. There were deals to be had,also - a nice double BBL damascus percussion shotgun went for $110. One weekend of cleanup and that buyer will have the keepsake wall-hanger of a lifetime.
Bill also had enough snuff ,pipe tobacco, and cigars to keep a small county in West Virginia supplied for a year (apologies to any WV readers).There were eight to ten unopened cases of Scotch Snuff, Two big cases of Borkun Riff pipe tobacco,Ten pound bags of pipe tobacco, boxes of cigars,etc.Also were several spittoons half filled with Bill Moran DNA .
I'll edit the photos this afternoon and post some later.
Stacy
Who is benefiting from the proceeds of the auction since he has no surviving relatives?
I'll bet Ray R. or Bill B. scoped that "Double Bit Ax" , that is a beauty . OK , how can you not mention the Blades , the last 20 or so pics contain what litterally is a small fortune worth of Moran Blades. I would go to that auction in a heartbeat if I were closer . Oh yeh , I forgot , $$$$$ , like the man said : " I'm so poor I can't even pay attention " For some reason I can't get that image of IG with "Teddy" out of my mind 
I am surprised Razorback , no surviving relatives ??? Have fun Stacy , if you have a couple extra $1000,s on ya pick me up that Gents Longines or one of those Pocket watches eh ??
