Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Petroliana Value Questions 6-foot Shell gas station sign

I've inherited a variety of Shell memorabilia from my father-in-law, a 40+ year Shell employee. One of them is a 6x6-foot gas station sign, shown in the first picture. He loved the sign because it said "Shell" but, not being one to let anything go to waste, he affixed makeshift hinges to the top of the aluminum frame and a handle at the bottom and used it as a cover for an old open trailer he stored stuff in. As can be seen, it's faded and has non-structural cracks in different places. There are also some small places where the paint/pigment is missing, as is also shown. I'd be interested to know what it might be worth.

I've just joined and this is my first post. I expect to be posting other Shell items to get people's opinions about values. Thanks for your attention.

Welcome to Old Gas, ShellEnthusiast. I'm sure some of the guys who know signs better than I do will chime in with some opinions on value. Hopefully, when you get a better handle on pricing some of your Shell goodies, you'll offer them for sale to the members here on Old Gas. John

I'd like to echo John in welcoming you to Oldgas. I'm also confident that some of the sign guys here can give you their thoughts on value. Good luck!

The plastic stuff is now starting to pick up in value. Unfortunately, condition is everything as they say. I've seen similar condition signs in the same 6x6 dimensions go for a few hundred bucks in this condition.

In that condition and being a single side(or at least appears to be), in my area $50-100 would be tops and someone would really have to want one to pay that. Condition "IS" everything. A complete one in nice condition wouldn't bring over $1000, again, in my area...

Thanks, guys. Not exactly what I wanted to hear but I appreciate the quick replies. And yes, it is single sided.

The condition is actually a little worse than the photo indicates. The aluminum strip at the top covers a hole where a small piece is missing, as shown in the attached picture. (I'm not sure why the images aren't rendered in portrait mode. There doesn't seem to be a way to change that.)

I'm obviously a total newbie and have no idea what determines the value of things like this. Your comments seem to be general ones for plastic signs of that size and condition. Would my sign or any particular sign be more valuable based on it's rarity? In 20 minutes of searching for images of 6-foot Shell signs the only examples I found of "my" sign currently being displayed were at the Soulsby Service Station on Route 66 in Illinois and at the Reiff Gas Station Museum in California. (Reiff's current web page shows an older Shell sign mounted on the same signpost.) Of course the sign isn't that old, and for all I know it could be mounted up on barns all over the country - just not all over the internet!

Plastic signs that have cracks, pieces missing or glued repairs suffer a reduction in value that is pretty serious. That being said, some collectors do buy rough "barn hanger" signs to put up on a barn or fence.

ShellEnthusiast, I understand your "wish" that the value of your sign could be higher for any number of reasons, It also may be hard to come to grips with the reality of it all, since this sign was obtained and then kept by someone close to you and your wife....who may have thought it had more value. However, as with all collectibles of any kind, "rarity" does not automatically equate to "valuable". The experienced guys who've responded know their stuff. There comments about the importance of "condition" are spot on. John

Here is one that appears to match yours but in better condition. It sold at auction in June for $100 plus BP. Its one result I know but its consistent with what most of the other members are saying in terms of value. The 4x4 versions seem to do a little better, but not much.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/72703507_large-plastic-shell-station-sign-with-bracket

Pretty conclusive! Thanks, all, for your comments.