Thread: Antique find, to boy or not to buy?

I was at a local antique shop today where I looked at a few razors, some ok, others not. They had a Gilchrest frameback with very short monkey tail in ivory scales for $19.50. It looked pretty good though the case but inspected up close and opened, I'm not sure. They ivory is not very clean, feels brittle and light, and has surface cracks running over it. The blade has a heavy smile and has an approximately 1/16" chip near the center of the blade. Blade does have a lot of patina, but does not seem to be rusted.

Anyone think this is worth picking up?

Without pics, it's very hard to say.
For 19,50 it seems a good deal. The chip can be honed out. Old ivory is often spiderwebbed with harilines around the pins, but that doesn't mean it'll fall apart. And even if it does, you can have it rescaled.
If the steel is good, then it's a fair price.