Koeth's Interchangeable Tool - K.I.T.

[amecks]

  I'm posting this for informational purposes only - in other words, I didn't buy this.  It is for sale in a local antique shop.  I saw it a long time ago but the shop changed hands recently.  This time around I thought I would get some pics and ask "how much?". 
  I've not heard of this company but apparently it was distributed from Auburn, NY (where I work) by B.E.Hedges Co. Inc.  The antique shop is just north of there, in Weedsport.  There is some info online that indicates it was patented in 1901 and sold by different companies, sometimes called Koeth's Kombination Kit.  One patent is No. 677770.  Some Kits were offered in wood boxes with hinged or slide tops.  This tool is in a pressed cardboard box, I think.  Note that there are 9 tools but the "K.I.T." is a complete set of six.  Looks like the handle spring is broken.
  Note the price tag ($150) from the previous owner.  The new shop owner will ask $125 as a starting point.  I don't think you will have trouble getting the price well below $100.  Online values are $90 to $180, but some have sold on ebay for a lot less.









   
 
 

[Yadda]

Chuck, has a huge collection of Koeth plier sets.  I have a couple.  The spring is missing on all of mine.

[OilyRascal]

Really neat tool I would like to have and have not seen before.  Thank you for posting.  I utterly refuse to buy anything where the seller sensationalizes the description with "Rare".

[amecks]

Right about The "Rare" in description.  But don't forget that that was the previous business owners write up.  The new owner is going tobe running auctions to clear out a lot of stuff that has been sitting for years.

[wvtools]

I will very occasionally put rare in the title if I feel it is.  I don't have a problem with someone calling this one rare or uncommon because you do not see too many complete sets, particularly with the pasteboard box.  You see a lot of incomplete sets, so I guess the tool itself is not rare.

[mvwcnews]

Here's a link to a full page in 1913 HARDWARE DEALERS [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hardware_Dealers_Magazine/zJU7AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=koeth+tool+kit&pg=PA618-IA8&printsec=frontcover ] discussing the KIT.  No mention of whether the set was in wood or cardboard box by then, but the assortment of jaws matches.    Is that screwdriver in the lower right hand corner of the box photo an EIFEL screwdriver?  I don't think the Koeth Kit included a screwdriver.

[Yadda]

That is an E-F Angle driver in the corner.