98 Silver Beach No Star Drag

[Penn Chronology]

Still have a few reels to strip and clean, some are in ok condition, but I think this 98 was the worst of all of them.
I had another delivery today, a 3 poster and a 4 poster Sea Hawke ( still not early enough to have any JK markings)
So now with the collection growing, it's time to build a decent shelf for display and organise them.

          You an excellent job on the Model 98. The cleaning directions given to you by Sid are First Class and following them perfectly has created a true survivor reel for your collection. I have seen many reels, the condition your Model 98 is in now is not bad at all and desirable because it will no longer deteriorate with age.
           Your Model 98 is special in more ways than one. Just the fact that it is a Model 98 makes it a very limited production collectible. The reason Penn quit making the Model 98 was because it did not sell well. When that happens to any production item, it creates lower than normal amounts of the item being released. In the world of collectibles, one of the greatest contributing factors to the value and scarcity of any collectible is original production verses the demand.
          In the world of Penn collectibles, that relates to the popularity of a particular model and how many of that model were made. The Silver Beach became a classic Penn reel after the war. It was made for many years wearing the Model 99 number. The early pre-war Models 97 & 98 immediately have their own significant identity because they are the parent model of the classic Model 99.
          So now we have a reel model group named the Silver Beach models and a significant difference that separates this model group from other model groups. That difference is the Model number change in the before and after the war production and how easy it is to identify the reels into their proper group. All pre-war Silver Beach models are Model 97 & 98 reels and are easily identified that way because there is no model number on the head plate. Cannot miss a pre-war Silver Beach.
          Now you have a basic, very popular, high end reel in a pre-war group that is identified that way. That is a first step in making for a significant collectible.
          That said, we now look at the pre-war group and see two models. One of those models is favored by the buying public much more than the other and that model would be the Model 97. The Model 97 is a complete package with a drag and anti-reverse. The Model 98 is an old obsolete style falling into a group of reel types named "Knuckle Busters". By the late 1930's, Knuckle Busters were falling out of fashion in the fishing world, so the Model 98 was a lousy seller. Being a lousy seller makes for low production numbers and unconsciously create a hot collectible. That is the second factor that makes the Model 98 special.
           So now this model 98 is looking really special in the desirable collectible world. The next special factor about your reel is the handle style. You have a pear shaped handle on your Model 98. Every Model 98 made from 1939 to the end of the pre-war era has a Torpedo handle. The only Model 98 with a pear shaped handle is the 1938 model, which makes your reel that much more desirable.

So, basically, if you have read this much of my babble you now know that your Model 98 is the best of all the Model 98 versions to have. In other words, your reel is a """Winner""" in the collectible world.

Congrats on a great job to a old time great reel and welcome to the world of Penn Collecting............<:O)

The Sea Hawk with the three posts and a handle actuating free spool is a 1933 model, if you have a free spool lever on your 3 pillar Sea Hawk, then it is a 1937. If your Sea Hawk is the 1933 version, it will have the Circle K brand on the inner side of the side plates.

[milne]

Thank you for the information on the 98, great information.
I'm hunting desperately for your book at the minute, but not with any luck. From what I have heard it is full of valuable information like what you
have just told me on Penn reels. At the moment I have an old Penn model listing, which I am going by, as well as all the helpful advice here on the forum.
I find all the history on Penn reels intriguing, which also makes finding and collecting these classics so much more interesting.
I've been lucky in respect to being able to obtain some hard to get reels for the start of my collection, quite fortunate actually, and this has just spurred me
on even more.
Thanks again for the info, much appreciated.

Col