How does one sell World's largest elephant tusk? Seriously

Welcome to AH, and good luck with the sale.
 
I prefer "Ma'am". :) Here's a photo: View attachment 158342
With these tusks I would go talk to a big auction house like Sotheby's or Christie's and at auction put a reserve on them.

Can you please tell us more about the tusks, where they came from and who took the Elephant. Do you have any pictures of the hunter posing with the Elephant? Can you tell us about the size and weight... Incredible, thank you for sharing.
 
Beautiful ivory Ma'am.

I too was skeptical about your original post. Glad I'm wrong.

When you say they are one of the eight largest sets in the world, I presume this is based on SCI from looking at the photos, not Rowland Ward. Your ivory would not be in the top eight in the Rowland Ward book. I don't mean this as an insult because your ivory is truly amazing. Especially for this day and age.


Not sure if you are interested but there is some large ivory in the following thread. Please post a photo of your ivory. It certainly belongs there.

http://www.africahunting.com/thread...-magnificent-seven-big-tusker-elephants.3415/

Just some thoughts on possible buyers:

I agree with PHOENIX PHIL. He is wise in saying not to give out too much information on a public forum. I would love to know the weights of your tusks, but people might be able to figure out who you are if they check out the record books and your ivory is recorded there. If not, please share the weights. If I read the new July 2016 regulations correct and there is no longer any interstate commerce in ivory, Cabelas may be one of your best bets as far as selling them. You might also check with other sporting goods like Bass Pro, Gander Mountain, etc. If they have a business in your state, they should be able to buy them. Then as their property, move them to another location if they want. I am not an attorney and don't know this for sure.

Lollibros (an auction house) http://lollibros.com/ used to sell ivory and they may still. They should know the rules. I was at a sale there about 10 years ago and pre 75 ivory was selling for about $120-150 per pound, depending on the size and quality. None of the tusks were over apx. 60lbs.

There used to be an ivory buyer that advertised in the back of Safari Club Magazine. His name started with a Z. (don't remember it) Not sure if he still does this. He would buy pre75 ivory and cut it up and sell to craftsmen. I no longer am a member of SCI so I don't receive their magazine. Possibly some one could check and see if he is still doing this. 15-20 years ago he was buying around $100lb if I remember correct. He was advertising as recently as three years ago as I remember.

With ivory of the size you are talking about, you might try Christies or Sotheby's. Your tusks certainly would qualify as collectors items. They would have people that know the legalities of what you are trying to do.

A couple of years ago I read that black market ivory in the far east was going around $800-1,000 lb. Not sure if this is correct and this of course is illegal but thought I would share it with you to show what the government has done. You have legal private property and in essence, the federal government is denying you the right to sell it. Sure seems like the "taking clause" , but what do I know.



About 15 years ago I was contacted by an insurance appraiser. He wanted to know the value of ivory. A friend had referred him to me. I told him I was no expert, but would be happy to help. He told me he was trying to get a value on a set of ivory. He said the total weight was 360lbs. I told him he was wrong. He swore he was right and he had weighed the ivory himself. (There was some filler stuffed into the nerve endings that wasn't removed to weigh the ivory) He gave me more information that made me believe him.

I wasn't able to help him much, but pointed him in some other directions to establish value. I asked him to get back with me once he was done to let me know what he found out. He called me a few weeks later and said they had insured the ivory for $1,000lb or $360,000. He said in his research, with this ivory probably being one of the four largest in private hands, they were probably worth apx. $10,000,000 to a collector in the middle east. Unfortunately getting it there is illegal from what I understand.

If you have any questions you don't feel comfortable sharing on a public forum, feel free to pm me. Not sure I can help any more than I already have though.


All the best in your endeavors and thanks again for sharing a truly beautiful set of ivory!
 
With these tusks I would go talk to a big auction house like Sotheby's or Christie's and at auction put a reserve on them.

Can you please tell us more about the tusks, where they came from and who took the Elephant. Do you have any pictures of the hunter posing with the Elephant? Can you tell us about the size and weight... Incredible, thank you for sharing.


I see you posted while I was writing. What do they say about great minds!:D
 
(y) @Wheels you provided some very valuable information to @whats4dinner. Finding the right buyer here is key as something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
 
You read that right.
I'm here to pick your brains on how one would sell pre-ban, World-record size, elephant tusks... And may be pointed in the direction of a potential buyer.

If one had a set of pre ban, elephant tusks harvested pre-1975 and they turned out to be one of the top 8 largest in the world... And in near mint condition, considering...

Where would one even begin to LEGALLY sell them?
Who can one hire to do the paperwork with c.i.t.i.e.s and US Game? Can someone PLEASE refer an attorney and/or what kind of law should they practice?
How does one find a buyer? Does it matter what US state the tusks are located in?
What are they worth? Is the current price per pound relevant as they're trophy size?

Thanks for reading!

Shoot me an email if you have pre ban whole tusks for sale. Thanks.
 
Shoot me an email if you have pre ban whole tusks for sale. Thanks.
Hi all,

My uncle passed away and I inherited all his housegood.

I found in his house (Naples-Florida) few items in ivory (elephant tusks) who came with him in +/- 1975 when he leaved south Africa for USA.

Two ivory tusks, three carved tusks, one lady head carved and four little items.

I can't bring those souvenirs back to Belgium with the EU restrictions.

And my problem is that I didn't find any papers who guarentees that all ivory was bought in +/-1970 in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

Of course I can make a dating test but my problem is that I live in Europe and it's not easy for me to do.


But let me know if you are interested to bid or not.


If you have an idea or better solution for me to sell it ?


Thank you for your help.


Sincerely.


JP
Belgium.

PS: I'll be back in Naples in October.
 
Hi all,

My uncle passed away and I inherited all his housegood.

I found in his house (Naples-Florida) few items in ivory (elephant tusks) who came with him in +/- 1975 when he leaved south Africa for USA.

Two ivory tusks, three carved tusks, one lady head carved and four little items.

I can't bring those souvenirs back to Belgium with the EU restrictions.

And my problem is that I didn't find any papers who guarentees that all ivory was bought in +/-1970 in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

Of course I can make a dating test but my problem is that I live in Europe and it's not easy for me to do.


But let me know if you are interested to bid or not.


If you have an idea or better solution for me to sell it ?


Thank you for your help.


Sincerely.


JP
Belgium.

PS: I'll be back in Naples in October.

If you can prove (photos, date of move to Florida, license, passport stamps, carved date/name in carved ivory, year game dept stamped shot ivory, etc) the ivory is pre-ban you should be able to get documentation. If you can’t get documentation, you can give the ivory away, or throw it away, but you can’t sell it.

All the best
 
Hi Wheels,
Thank you for your reply. Like I said, I didn't find any documents who proove that my uncle came in US from Zimbabwe with those ivory items....
If I can't find any interested people I will donnate to an African museum in Florida.

Sincerely.

JP from Belgium
 
I suggest you look at the Fish & Wildlife regs: https://www.fws.gov/policy/do210A1.pdf

And, incidentally, I have two one-piece ivory picture
frames that I bought from an old ivory cutter in
Sheffield, England in 1972. They were cut from the
lip area, and were then lathe turned after cutting.

After turning, they are the diameter of the British
Museum largest tusk (226.25 lbs) which is the
largest extant. The old ivory cutter told me his
father had cut the picture frames around 1900.

The largest elephant tusk on record weighed 117 kg,
and came from Dahomey (Benin)
.
That record tusk was displayed in the Paris Exposition
of 1900. After the exposition, the tusk disappeared.
I reckon it was cut up for knife handles (and my
two picture frames.)

Rust Merchant
 

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Those are some awesome tusks!!
And awesome is an understatement!!!

I hope for the best on your endeavors to sell them to someone who will appreciate and retain those tusks in whole.

It would be an atrocity of biblical proportion, IMO, for such massive tusks be chopped, cut, mutilated into trinkets!!
 
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Nice Z, 1975 ?
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