[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Hi Ash, that’s a good question and I can’t answer for the owner but just as a general comment, the scope is excessively rare and more of a collector’s item, however the paradox is that there are not many Browning collectors, especially in Australia.

The value that anything is worth is what someone is willing to pay for it and the fact that this has been on the market for some time and not sold might mean that the price is a little high or that the person that is willing to pay such a price has not become aware of it yet.

I personally have a Browning which is in the final stages of restoration which is well documented on various forums including this one and I have a dedicated website for it, which also includes a registry of known existing Browning telescopes. I have manged the registry for between two to three years with the full cooperation and assistance of the Antique telescope Society and The Royal Astronomical Society and in all that time have come up with only 20 Browning telescopes. More than half of these are in museums around the world, so you can well understand that these scopes are indeed rare.

The manufacturer (John Browning) was a fascinating man and his story is told on my website which is at: http://www.antiquescopes.com

The site incudes extracts from original catalogues produced by John Browning and thus is 100% accurate and bona fide, if you have any interest in the telescopes of the era then please take a visit to the site.

So in conclusion, to some the telescope may seem expensive, but in terms of purchasing one anytime soon, you either have to pay it or not own it. I would certainly love to have it and add it to my own collection, but I cannot raise the funds, do I think 4K is expensive, yes, but then again I’d say the same about a Porsche.