Broadhead Collecting

[rp65]

I have just started to collect broadheads, but feel a little in the dark as far as fair prices to pay. What are some average prices for not so rare and what is the price of some rare ones you own. Is there somewhere I could get some information on this to help giude me.

[grizz]

That is a tough question. The heads are only worth what you are willing to pay. I tend to stay conservative and try to stay under ten bucks for some fairly common ones. When you get to the more rare stuff it's usually better to try to trade since it can get kind of expensive. If you haven't already joined the ABCC then that should be a priority, the rewards (free heads from established members!) are tenfold due to the generosity of it's members. Good luck!

[Wade Phillips]

Originally posted by rp65:
... and what is the price of some rare ones you own. Is there somewhere I could get some information on this to help giude me.

"Broadheads 1871-191 Identification and Rarity Guide, Second Edition" published 2004, lists the 250 Top Collectible Broadheads and a value as a letter code that can be converted to a dollar value. These individual values range from just over a hundred dollars into the thousands of dollars.

There are over 2,000 actual size photographs of vintage broadheads shown in this book, so roughly only 12% have published values shown on pages 20 and 21.

These are 2004 values and while some broadhead values have declined e.g., when more were found, the actual sale prices of others have recently far exceeded the 2004 published value. An example of this is a Bitzenburger with a 2004 published value of $500, was sold at auction earlier this year for over $2,500, or more than 5 times its 2004 published value. While this example is of course an exception, other Bitzenburgers have sold for far more than 2004 published values.

Unfortunately, there are no published lists of average prices for more common broadheads that would help guide you and other newer collectors in the purchase of the more common older broadheads. Many collectors have hundreds or thousands of duplicates of these more common heads and freely give these common old heads to newer collectors.