Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Vintage Schwinn Parmount

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L Day

03-20-09, 03:28 PM

I've got a Paramount project for a Schwinn Restorer.

I have A SCHWINN PARAMOUNT FRAME; SERIAL NUMBER A816 I called Schwinn years ago and they said they didn't have records for that... I recently saw on line that the records for the 3 digit serial No. frames were lost in th 1948 office fire.

I got the bike from a co-worker in 1955 and rode it to work during 55-58. This bike has aluminum wheels (sew-up tires); 3 gear cluster and a Sturmey Archer rear hub (added by the previous owner). It has suffered the slings and arrows of my carting it around the country (Texas/Calif/Montana/ New Mex). the original white paint is pretty well rusted but the Paramount medallion and the "Quality/Schwinn/Chicago" decal is still on the front.

Can anyone help me in establishing a fair price for this item?
Digital photos available.

lotek

03-20-09, 05:57 PM

It would help if you could post some of the digital pictures.
Old Paramounts (especially pre WWII) are very much collectors items and
in demand.

Marty

Scooper

03-20-09, 06:06 PM

A photo would be a huge help. You can attach digital .jpg photos that are less than 100 kilobytes file size by clicking the "Go Advanced" button, then the "Manage Attachments" button.

There are many vintage Paramount fans here. :D

From the Waterford website:

The Earliest Paramount Serial Numbers

The very first Paramounts seemed to have had serial numbers starting with "A" followed by two or three digits. This seems to have been a system started by Emil Wastyn. We found a very early Paramount - claimed to be a 1938-9 vintage - with serial number A545.

Little is known about serial numbers for bikes built after World War II. Unfortunately, an office fire in 1948 destroyed the Paramount records. Numbers mostly followed a three-digit format - often but not necessarily with a "P" as the prefix.

By early 1959, serial number 949 had been reached, necessitating a new system.

Picchio Special

03-20-09, 06:08 PM

For a Paramount that early, I would also consider emailing here:

http://chainedrevolution.com/CS/forums/thread/362.aspx