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Gavels 'n' Paddles: Early prototype telephone, $40,000, Bruneau & Co.

Gavels 'n' Paddles: Early prototype telephone, $40,000, Bruneau & Co.

Results of Recent Auctions From Near and Far
by Ken Hall
An original model of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson’s first telephone from 1881 sold for $40,000 at an Historical Telephone Auction held August 4th by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers in Cranston, R.I. Also, a rare circa 1876 Bell Butter Stamp magneto telephone later installed at a residence in Newport, Rhode Island in 1891 brought $27,500; and the first phone/emergency call box ever installed in the Yukon in Canada, circa 1900, changed hands for $2,500. Prices include the buyer’s premium.

Gavels ‘n’ Paddles: Early prototype telephone, $40,000, Bruneau & Co.