Ephemera & Misc., Hardy, Thomas Turner blog
Hardy’s Halcyon Days
Sep
One of the most decorative of all the Hardy baits are the Halcyon & Improved Halcyon lures.
They came in many shapes and sizes, all peacock hearl and silk with a finned style head. I have seen them with single, double and treble hook rigs.
BUT did you know in 1888 they catalogued a gold plated lure!?
The one in the middle of the 3 Halcyon baits in our main image above is one such example.
Extremely rare, easily missed and often confused for brass. These are gold plated and stamped Hardy’s Alnwick on the fins.
A similar Patent did appear in 1893, applicant a Mr G.B. Debaines but that related to a rotating fin assembly as in the Improved Halcyon.
The first Hardy fins were fixed to the shank and the whole bait revolved.
So dig in those old lure boxes, the gold plated models could be 4/5/6 times the value of a standard lure.
Remember – Don’t chuck it out, check it out!
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(Tags: fm ukfff sff nafff)
