Make sure to check out all my listings after you look at this one. I don't think you'll find a better, broader or more balanced assortment of technical antiques anywhere. And don't forget, you can click this link to quickly add and then save me to your favorite seller list and Ebay will automatically send you updates when I put similar new listings online.

Here's a signed private line Key-On-Board made by Jerome Redding in Boston in the 1870's. The instrument comprises a telegraph key and sounder mounted on a large, heavy, decorative cast iron base. In the ad pictured above, published in 1877, the KOB is described as the company's "No. 1 Private Line Instrument."

Condition is as pictured, with wear to the black enameled finish, but a fair amount of the original decorations still visible. It's a good candidate for cosmetic restoration if you've got the skills to undertake one. Or you can leave it as it is -- it's an uncommon apparatus in any condition. There's no damage to the cast iron, and all of the small hardware appears to be in good shape. 

The lever needs a new spring.

Please review the photographs and consider them an integral part of the description. 

I'm one of ebay's best known, most highly regarded sellers of technical collectibles and technical antiques. I've been selling and shipping them for more than 25 years. When you purchase an item from me, you can rest assured that your purchase will arrive safely because it's been carefully packed (by me, not by some well-intentioned but nonetheless confounded, doe-eyed teenager working at the UPS store who wouldn't know a sextant from a steamship), Sure, you can probably get a lower price from Joe and Janet Barn-Find, but when your "bargain" arrives broken, and without any hint of how you might be able to put it back together, you'll realize that you really do get exactly what you pay for.