marco serial numbers?

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MarkG
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marco serial numbers?

Post by MarkG »

Picked up a Marco Elasticine 12ft Test rod yesterday for £15. Its in near perfect condition, the logo in full and looked like it has hardly been used or it had been refurbished at some time, the cork was pristine and it still had the wooden stoppers in the ferrules as well. My question is it had a serial number printed right at the base of the cane just above the handle 2264; tiny - needed a magnifying glass to make it out. Is this significant to the age of the rod?

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The Old Buffer
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by The Old Buffer »

Some, but not all, Marco rods have a number thereon but i have no idea as to its meaning. You have certainly got yourself a bargain with the test.
The coiled line travels from the reel, it brings up at last, the hook goes home, and then begins the test of skill. "BB"

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MarkG
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by MarkG »

Yep, a lucky find Buffer, not many without the tip missing and all pristine except for a bit of burnishing on one of the ferrules. The thing is the rod bag is in new-ish condition as well which makes me think this might have been shoved in a cupboard somewhere and forgotten about for years.
I wonder if the serial number is a date 2264, maybe 2/2/1964.

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The Old Buffer
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by The Old Buffer »

It could indeed be the date of manufacture but perhaps we will never know for sure.

I agree that the rod had probably been kept in a dry cool place, hence its fine condition. Most of the vintage rods I have picked up have been kept for years in a dank, dark garden shed and have needed to be completely stripped down and refurbished. To be fair I do enjoy the process which is just as well.
The coiled line travels from the reel, it brings up at last, the hook goes home, and then begins the test of skill. "BB"

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Wagtail
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by Wagtail »

My 12ft test has the number 1859 which, if 1st August 1959, looks about right.

What would shed more light is if anyone has a Marco rod with a serial number that is 5 or 6 digits - i.e. corresponding to a date above the 9th of the month and/or made in Oct/Nov/Dec?

Oh, and what a nice bargain you got there :Thumb:
'The Chub is a very controversial fish. He has a strong army of supporters, but he has an almost equally strong army of detractors. The trouble is that the detractors do not know what they are talking about'. L. Vernon-Bates

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SeanM
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by SeanM »

I'm pretty certain that the serial numbers don't translate directly into dates as my Test is numbered 215. They were almost certainly just sequential numbers for each rod type and it may well be that the number sequence was specific to a rod type and length. My 10ft 6in Test has aluminium reel seats and so was likely to be mid-1950s at the earliest.
Quot homines, tot sententiae.

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MarkG
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by MarkG »

Managed a few pictures-sorry about the size, not sure how to reduce it
Probably is a serial number then not a date.
There is some verdigris on the ferrule, whats the best way to get rid of this as the ferrules stick a bit and if you can see there is a bit of burnishing on one of the ferrules; is there any way of dealing with this?
What do you think original or refurbished at some stage.
And last question, I cannot remember if I am allowed to ask this but I am not sure whether I want to keep it or auction it, what would be a fair reserve on it if I do? If you cannot answer that, no worries, just thought I would ask.
Thanks for the replies.very helpful.



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MarkG
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by MarkG »

No answers to my last post, have I made some sort of mistake?

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The Old Buffer
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by The Old Buffer »

I suspect that the rod is in it's original condition and has not been refurbished judging by the varnish. Were the rod in my possession I would hand onto it, refurbish if necessary and use it. You could make a good profit by selling it on, having spent only £15 but i doubt that the profit made would enable you to purchase anything else as good. But then I am an unashamed lover of Elasticane rods.
The coiled line travels from the reel, it brings up at last, the hook goes home, and then begins the test of skill. "BB"

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Wagtail
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Re: marco serial numbers?

Post by Wagtail »

Mark,

To clean the sticking ferrules.... go at it GENTLY!

I would start with a little washing up liquid and a cotton bud to get inside the female ferrule. If that doesn't work try some Cilit Bang or similar, again scrub with the cotton bud and then flush out well. One of these two should work, but IF they fail then perhaps try using some brasso wadding very carefully. Beyond that you might need to use 0000 gauge wire wool or 1000 grit wet and dry paper, but this would only be as a last resort. Remember if you take too much off you will have a loose ferrule which is not so easy to fix, so proceed with caution in tiny stages as the tolerances are very small.


The outside of the ferrules in your picture look like the bluing has almost completely gone on the smaller ferrule. Chances are they were also varnished over the bluing. You can just lightly clean them as above, or strip away the coatings back to the brass with wet and dry paper and then varnish over the brass, or re-blue them.
'The Chub is a very controversial fish. He has a strong army of supporters, but he has an almost equally strong army of detractors. The trouble is that the detractors do not know what they are talking about'. L. Vernon-Bates

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