Johnny,
You really know how to warm my heart! The original owner, the original wrap, and a Palmer Original. It also says "Original by Palmer made for Johnny". Wow! It's nice to find an original owner to date this cue for me.
What also warms my heart is that you are still shooting pool with your Palmer. I hope you do us proud on the table, Johnny J. Remember, you're representing all us Palmer Original type of guys.
That is of course one of Palmer's most beautiful designs, the famous Model J. That reverse ebony front was a very difficult thing to make. African Ebony is one of the densest, heaviest, and hardest woods you will find in pooldom. There is no end to the tooling those cues would chew up.
What's nice about that wrap is you could also catch a Marlin with it if you wanted to change out your "J" to a fishing rod. The wrap was originally fishing line made by the Cortland Line Company for Palmer. What's in your hands is the same stuff George Balabushka used to wrap his cues. I know that because he bought his wrap from Palmer. He bought his shafts from them too, so I would say you have a shaft you can use for a couple more racks.
I would say your cue is worth, in the current all original condition with the original wrap and original owner and the provenance (history) you have given it and the really cool name on the label ... priceless. Are you kidding? If you sell this beauty it had better be because you need the money for a brain transplant! All kidding aside, no matter how much that "J" is worth today, which is a considerable sum, it will continue to appreciate as more collectors discover the enjoyment of acquiring fine Palmer Originals.
Thank you so much for writing,
Chris
