I've always thought value is in the eye of the beholder. For example, I have two Paramounts...a chrome "71, and an '82 Paramount Elite. According to the Waterford site, approximately 3,300 Paramounts were produced in 1972...so I'm guess the number was similar in '71, perhaps a little less. Conversely, according to an email I received from Richard Schwinn, approximately 200-400 Paramounts were produced by Waterford in 1982.

So, based on numbers alone, my '82 Paramount is much more rare (and was much more expensive...$3,500 in 1982 dollars...). However, if I put both of my Paramounts (which are in basically the same condition) on Ebay at the same time, I'm guess the '71 is going to be the more valuable one...as the '82 lacks the panache, the "bling" if you will, of the second-gen Paramounts...