I fell into a perfect pair old Keynan tusks that are perfect, length to girth ratio etc. is perfect, they have a perfect curve etc, they are so perfect they look fake. But they arnt they are old no seral numbers on them, they are 100% real and weigh 77 and 80 pounds each, the tips are perfect no chips, dings etc. Did I mention how nice they are?

question how much are they worth? in the billiard cue maker business ivory goes for $100/pound to $150/pound with CITES permits, but thats for buggered up old tusks not works of art like these beatiful tusks.

I wont display them in my trophy room because I didnt hunt the elephant and I'm not a phony, they are real and the nicestest looking set I have ever seen.

whats the value? I'm never gonna sell them but I'd like to know what they are worth.

thanks,

i miss everyone here, my back is still bad and thinking of hunting depresses me cause I am still in bad shape, i'll awalys be here from time to time, and back full time when I can hunt again,

kindest regards

eric

I would display them. There is no shame in putting them up unless you start making up stories of the hunt.

they will be displayed but not in my trophy room, thats only for game i hunted, i have a huge house and I wouldnt ever take credit for a trophy i didnt hunt, ever, i'm not a BSer or an exaggerator, I was accused of that here years ago but that was cleared up quickly by my friends here, i hunted almost 60 days one year and shot more game than most do in a life time, i have been very blessed, for the new members that dont know me elephants are my passion, lions are second on foot and buffalo hunting is boaring to me.

I have no idea of the value. There was one small carved tusk on a table for sale at the gun show this weekend marked for $6500 I think. He didn't sell it.

Can you post a photo or email to me and I will post?

Sorry to hear about your back.

Jeez, if they're a perfectly matched pair, there's a "wow" factor of about an extra $5-10K. Sooo, that'll make them about $30-40K, conservative estimate. Of course there's always somebody willing to pay much more for a pair for that, call it "I Gotta Have It" factor. Hope you get back on your feet soon since backs never seem to heal up as well you would like.

I can't help on the value, but it is good to see you posting and I wish you luck with your back.

Saw a nice pair half that size for $8750. I was going to say 3 times that.

quote:

Originally posted by 475Guy1:
Jeez, if they're a perfectly matched pair, there's a "wow" factor of about an extra $5-10K. Sooo, that'll make them about $30-40K, conservative estimate. Of course there's always somebody willing to pay much more for a pair for that, call it "I Gotta Have It" factor. Hope you get back on your feet soon since backs never seem to heal up as well you would like.

Thats what I was thinking, I have shot 14 elephants, 5 bulls in zim and I have one pair thats just under 50 but they dont have the curve, symetry(SP?) perfection these do, I will get pics of them up soon I dont know how to post but can email them to someone who can post, they arnt mounted but at least we could all see them.


Thanks to everyone for the kind words about my back, this is the second worse thing in my life, moms cancer was worse. my back problems started when she was sick so the past 5 years have been tough but I'm hanging in there and I promis that I will make it through the tough times and AWALYS be here on AR, its just hard to think about hunting when your 40 and cant go. The members here have a special place in my heart and I think of alot of you often,

I didnt buy these tusks to resell or claim I hunted the elephant they are just so nice and the price seemed fair to me I wanted them, we'll get a pic of them up.

any other opinions on the value is appericated.

I know absolutely zilch about the value of ivory but it is now 2007 and I would think the potential value of a well proportioned and well matched set of elephant tusks of such size would transend ivory market values, by a long shot. Firstly, what is the likelihood of finding similar in today's hunting fields and at what cost, per opportunity to do so, in an ever accelerating market? They're worth whatever the interested individual will pay you and I believe that sum will surprise you.

Black market ivory prices have reportedly been as high as $850 per kilogram recently.

For a legal pair of premium tusks like the ones you are talking about, you might consult an insurance company in the business of insuring trophies, or one of the legal ivory buyers or trophy appraisers who advertise in Safari Times or The Hunting Report.

I know one of these ivory buyers/appraisers personally and can give you an introduction if you wish. Just let me know.

Eric,

Get the tusks insured; I'm sure SCI would know who performs such appraisals if your taxidermist des not.

George

I saw a pair of perfect upper 85-90lbs class tusks at a gallery in Paris. He sold them for 80,0000 Euros which is about $105,000.00 US dollars. He sold them to one of his clients in Europe. They were the long tusks like you would find in Tanzania and were absolutely beautiful!

PM to Eric. I can post the photos for you.

Eric, about your back, I have a physical therapist who has too many credentials to list. This man is a master. Maybe he can refer you to someone in LV who can help you. His name is Robet Meyer D.C. and he has alot of MDs eating crow about their patients who they were certain needed surgery. He does alot of work for Longhorn athletics as well, Gov Perry, top athletes and we folks. He saved me from demanding hip surgery to remedy pain and I had tried everthing else.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnHunt:
I would display them. There is no shame in putting them up unless you start making up stories of the hunt.

John, I agree. However, many of the hunters I know will not have anything on their wall that they did not hunt themselves. I have several carved skulls and scrimshawed horns and tusks that I consider art that I did not personally kill in my trophy room. The wife and I agreed that I would build a trophy room, and all the "hunting stuff" goes there and not in the house. I make a point to let guests know that I did not kill the artwork.

Eric

Hope you get to hunting shape again. My back is great, but it will be a next year before I can put themoney back for my buff hunt. I did get to make an Alaskan hunt this year however. I'd like to see a pic of the tusks however.

I emailed them to yukon delta just now. Its a bad cel phone picture and it makes the working tusk look shorter than it is, I put a tape measure next to them with 12" on it for scale, they were bolted to these ugly white tables, not properly done so I left them off and am going to have them mounted properly, they are 99% there are no chips on the tips the curve is the same on both and the length is close on both, I cant measure them myself-it hurts to much to bend down and do it now, later on after the pic is up i'll get some help to get the lengths, the weight i posted at first is correct minus 4 pounds for the wood in the nerve canel.

Here you go...I like them, especially because they came from Kenya. Any idea when they were taken Eric?

Long Lost Brother Eric,
Stand them up in anchored pedestals as guardians of the entrance to your trophy room. They are indeed what dreams are dreamt about.

Your askaris to guard your old bull back until it gets better.

LV Eric

Don't want to hijack you r thread BUT

as a sufferer of chronic back pain AFTER 2 surgeries, I found something that imporoved things about 20% eg I sleep without pain pills a night or two more week, and take less when I do dose up:

Propel. Drink it. It is Gatorade Light..a sports drink, about 25 calories a bottle and gives you all the electrolytes etc that we need as older guys.

Give it a try.....

Or speak to your Physiotherapist about kinesiology. After 2 surgeries and a 20-year problem, this is beginning to work big time for me. Chassis straightening, in layman's terms. Not an overnight solution, but I like the fact that it addresses the root cause rather than treating the symptom.

Good luck anyway!

Rikkie is right, as these are 2 areas in which my guy operates.

Eric, just stick 'em in your reloading room then.

I'm not 100% sure the tusks are from Keyna, but the guy i bought them from had them for 16 or 17 years, they arent Tanz ivory or Zim because of the shape, it looks like Keynan tusks to me, the tape measure is 12" for scale,


My back problems are much worse than any topical aplication, accupuncture, or excecise will solve, i was in tip top shape after 12 years of serious bodybuilding-when i got sick it was a slow degeneration of my discs, that led me to 2 6 hour agressive operations and one minor opperation, to solve the orthopedic problems, which were successful now i'm better, about like I was befre the orothpedic operations were performed, But...I have a very serious degenerative muscle disease from what we can see in the images, its not cancer that has been established, but the root problem hasnt been diagnosed, its not a neurological issue either-I have worked with several neurologists in Europe and America, it is a mystery, i have had this pain for many years its the reason I started the gym in 92 I was 2 and getting crippled then, the gym did buy me some time but now its way past that, it is some local disease in my back we think, its so bad its impossible for me to hunt, go to the gym, i have been playing pool a little 2-4 times a week, thats the best I can do, pretty bad for being 40, its not weight related, i have been 200 with horrible pain and 260 rock solid in good shape with no problems-I dont believe its systemic, i appericate everyones input,

back to the tusks, I paid $15,000 and thought I did good,

best

eric

Eric

Put those beautiful tusks anywhere you want and enjoy their perfection. I have this set that my wife purchased. I doubtfully will ever hunt elephant but I enjoy looking at this pair.

They are sitting on a ledge about 12 ft in the air at my office

That's classy.

You stole them Eric!

Women have most of the taste among us. That office display is wonderful.

Eric,

I think you should display them proudly, like a fine antique.

I often buy antlers at garage sales, etc and use them to build light fixtures such as chandeliers, table lamps or build towel racks, door handles, etc.

I have some elk antlers waiting for a good nasty New England winter day that I will make a fixture for my dining room. I have never hunted or killed an elk but will happily use and display the antlers I have purchased. Some are from very old hunts and still have the old tags on them.

I also have lots of impala horns that I obtained for the same purpose.

I found an old stuffed fox head in a resale shop many years ago. I bought him and cleaned him up and refinished the wood plaque it is mounted on and found it to be a pretty piece of oak. The old boy hangs in a bathroom. He was a fox hunting trophy from England that someone mounted. So what if somone else killed it and mounted it? It is part of my decor and fits in well.

Heck I have some cow hide rugs on the floor and I didn't kill them either!

Good luck with your back issue. Does a nerve block work for you at all?

LVEric
Those are some really nice tusks, go ahead and cap them and display them. They're too nice to kept hidden.

RM007
That's a nice way of displaying your tusks along with your kudu.

My good friend just last week sold a 12 lb. chunk of tusk for $2000. That would be $166. per/lb.

A few years ago I sold a pair of 40 pounders and a pair of 65 pounders for $65 per pound. A pair that went approx 112 pounds per side sold at auction in Houston about 5 years ago for $12.5K.

quote:

Originally posted by LV Eric:
... they are 100% real and weigh 77 and 80 pounds each, the tips are perfect no chips, dings etc.

In the $7000 to $12000 range from a conversation I heard in Zim last year.

One of the apprentices took a high 70's lb bull but couldn't afford to buy the tusks himself. may never shoot another like it again.

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:

quote:

Originally posted by LV Eric:
... they are 100% real and weigh 77 and 80 pounds each, the tips are perfect no chips, dings etc.

In the $7000 to $12000 range from a conversation I heard in Zim last year.

One of the apprentices took a high 70's lb bull but couldn't afford to buy the tusks himself. may never shoot another like it again.

I have 4 pairs of zim tusks the heaviest around 50 pounds a side, but they dont look near as nice as these, the Zim tusks are shorter and fatter, i figured there would be a premium for the nice look of these-like higher grade diamonds, and yes 100% they will be displayed in my house-I have a big house and there are alot of nice spots to put them in, my trophy room is reserved for what I hunted.

the tusks with the kudu looks great, i wish I had about 5kgs of kudu to cook up, yum.

I have no problem displaying other guys trophies. I just hang a medallion or a plate on them giving credit to the hunter or "unknown". Only a set of roe deer antlers so far though. I would have no problem having a tiger skin or a set of ivory tusks in my trophy room as a "spoil of the hunt" and as decorations. Especially if they are old or 'vintage' trophies.

These great ivories just have to be seen, touched and admired daily - PLEASE display them!

Nick Holt, well known auctioneer in the UK, can probably give you an estimate of value. E-mail him at: enquiries@holtandcompany.co.uk

Richard Harland.

Author of: The Hunting Imperative; African Epic; Ndlovu - The Art of Hunting the African Elephant. (Available from Rowlnad Ward Publications and Safari Press)