Speaking of value opinions……

Just saw this ranger set come up on Ebay. Retail value in 1996 was $750, and today around $2,400. The seller is offering it for $395. A perfect example of an online seller asking below materials cost for a beautiful handmade buckle in 14K and Sterling! M.M. Michael Roger’s Sterling Silver 14k Buckle 3pc Ranger Belt 40.5" | eBay

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did this set start out life as a 4 piece ranger?

who was “G”

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It did, Steve. Normally these have two keepers. Still a tremendous bargain at the offering price. The tarnish on this piece is really a shame. It looks like it‘s been in someone’s drawer for 20+ years. This will polish right up and look like a million bucks.

“G” is a partial hallmark of “EG”, Earlman Ganadonegro from the Alamo Navajo reservation in Socorro County, NM. Earlman, a really fine silversmith who worked with me for many years, often separates the “E” and “G” of his hallmark with the other quality and shop marks in between.

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By now, I would expect that most active members on this site have seen this listing. When I looked, it was hard not to purchase this, as I have always wanted a piece designed by you. Unfortunately, it came at a time when several large bills needed to be paid. I was quite surprised that no one here had picked it up. It is a beautiful and timeless design, in my opinion.

On July 15th, I woke up at 4:00 am to drive to a job across the state. I noticed an email received at 3:30am mentioning this listing.

Odd because I had not saved it, only looked at it. I could not pass at that price. So even without the second keeper, I am very happy.

Here it is polished up some, and thank you for bringing it to my attention.

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Great buy Mark! It looks really nice

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Congratulations on an awesome set at an absolute steal of a price! It cleaned up well and looks fantastic. :+1:

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mystery solved :grin:

got the same alert from ebay and by the time I looked it was a done deal so I had a good feeling It was rescued by one of us here.

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Congrats. My eBay message was that it sold.

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Congratulations Mark! You got an absolute steal on it. It’s a beautiful buckle!

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It IS a beautiful buckle, the whole design is so attractive! Do you think the asking price is a combination of the sellers lack of knowledge and the fact that ranger sets are not as popular as they were years ago?Congrats @markyboy57! What a steal! I would have bought it for my husband had I seen it earlier!!!

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Thanks for the comments everyone! My wife is happy too, she is glad that I finally bought something for myself. So I gave her a pin, and made her laugh.

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Definitely a lack of knowledge, professionalism, and perhaps a bit of laziness as well. I think if I were in the resale business the first thing I would do is seek to maximize value and saleability by polishing the piece up and presenting it properly. Rangers are definitely not as big a category as they formerly were, but there are still plenty of customers out there for a good high quality ranger set. This particular set was priced well under the replacement value of the metals alone. A really savvy seller would have picked up on that immediately.

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