# J.C. Higgins Bicycle ideas on year or value?



## rhode (Sep 13, 2012)

Found this at a relatives in the garage rafters.  Any ideas as to what year this bike is and what if any value it has?


----------



## vincev (Sep 13, 2012)

The bike is from around 1952 or 53.In 1951 they had actual pot metal exhaust pipes then went to decals in 52.I would say the value is in the $375 range.If it had the "springer" front end I would think the $475 area.I think this is a close price but wait till the Higgins experts chime in.lol


----------



## MagicRat (Sep 13, 2012)

YEOW!!! That Hig' is Way Cool! (looks like an original Allstate front tire too)

I think Granpa is about pretty close on the value.


----------



## scrubbinrims (Sep 13, 2012)

At one time, I bought into the story of the metal pipe manifold tank preceeding the decal version as this, but I have been corrected in that this bike preceded the 3-dimensional version which came out in 53.
The badge and frame style of the metal exhaust pipe version is consitent with other model Murray made JCH of 53+.
Chris



The bike in question is early 50's and the value vincev gave is also about right, maybe a bit lower with the rear fender repaint.


----------



## MagicRat (Sep 13, 2012)

It looks like that rear fender house paint would come off real easy!

Im diggin' the handlebar Hilts on it too.

They should be in front of the grips,like the first pic,right side.


----------



## Boris (Sep 13, 2012)

I'm curious about the chainring. Looks like a Shelby to me. Can someone tell me if it's correct on a Higgins too? I don't ever recall seeing this chainring on a Higgins before.


----------



## RMS37 (Sep 13, 2012)

[FONT=&quot]Good eye Dave! This is a very rare [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Shelby[/FONT][FONT=&quot] built JCH. While Murray provided most of the Sears fleet of bikes in the fifties, many JCH balloon tired models were also supplied by Monark (and later on Stelber,) with small numbers of Westfield, and Shelby built bicycles turning up for collectors occasionally[/FONT]


----------



## Boris (Sep 13, 2012)

My favorite is the Monark built Higgins frame, but it's interesting to note how the seat stays attach to the seat tube on this bike. The rack also appears to be different than on the Monark and Murray models. Because this bike is a little more rare, does it increase the value?


----------



## militarymonark (Sep 13, 2012)

that tank looks shelby too!


----------



## rhode (Sep 13, 2012)

vincev said:


> The bike is from around 1952 or 53.In 1951 they had actual pot metal exhaust pipes then went to decals in 52.I would say the value is in the $375 range.If it had the "springer" front end I would think the $475 area.I think this is a close price but wait till the Higgins experts chime in.lol





Thanks I appreciate the info.


----------



## militarymonark (Sep 13, 2012)

yeah that bike is all shelby, this is interesting


----------



## RMS37 (Sep 13, 2012)

The bike is definitely a conversation piece...as if most of us need much prompting to turn any conversation into one about our bicycles. I imagine the bike would be highly regarded and valued by the JCH complete-ist or perhaps a rabid Shelbyite but the tradeoff is that it is arguably less attractive than the M-O variant so value to most collectors would be about equal or perhaps a bit less.


----------



## rhode (Sep 13, 2012)

Looks like this ended up being a good find.  When I saw it I thought it looked cool but didn't know a thing about vintage bikes.  I think I just found something "new" to collect.  I got alot of collections but never considered vintage bikes.  Looking thru the forum I see alot of cool bikes out there.

I appreciate the discussion threads.  Thanks.


----------



## Gary Mc (Sep 13, 2012)

rhode said:


> Looks like this ended up being a good find.  When I saw it I thought it looked cool but didn't know a thing about vintage bikes.  I think I just found something "new" to collect.  I got alot of collections but never considered vintage bikes.  Looking thru the forum I see alot of cool bikes out there.
> 
> I appreciate the discussion threads.  Thanks.




*Welcome to the obsession!!!!!!!!!!  *That's exactly how it starts......... Oh, Welcome to the CABE too!!!


----------



## MagicRat (Sep 13, 2012)

Stand up and say,My name is Rhode and I have an addiction...

Hi Rhode.

WE are here to help. (heh)


----------

