BritPhones features the rarest British phones from 1929 to the 1950s

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Featured phones

This website brings you some of the rarest British manufactured antique phones in existence. More content and friends’ phones will be added over the next few weeks and months.

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The rarest British phones

Mottled brown GPO 162 on bell-set

Perhaps the most sought after British phone in existence. I am pretty confident that there are only two of these phones that still exist complete with bell-sets. This is an FH phone on a Siemens bell-set, the other is an FH phone on an FH bell-set.

Mottled Brown GPO 196

Ultra rare FH 1934 Mottled Brown GPO 196. Identical to 162 except that it was designed for use with a Local Battery. The 196 was only supposed to have been made in black! Special feature of this phone is that it comes with a highly sought after mottled brown dial blanking plate.

Clear GPO 314

GPO S-1951 Clear 314, Lovely condition and a very rare phone.

Walnut Siemens Brothers No. 83 & 91 (1931)

The 1931 Siemens Brothers No. 83/91 is the forerunner of the Siemens 310. This is an extrememly rare walnut version and I am guessing a very small number of these exist, but it would be good to hear from others on this. Has the very early thin type of plunger – these are super rare in black and this is the only one I have seen in walnut.

Mahogany 1930 GECophone (not Gleneagles)

This predates the 1933 Gleneagles gecophones. Bears the hallmarks of the earliest phones, including metal plunger & internals, & metal lined hole for dial. Has a very rare early nickel plated metal dial blank (the only example that I have seen).

Gleneagles Red Brown GECophone

1933 Gleneagles Gecophone acquired by its owner at the April 2016 Lyon and Turnbull auction in Edinburgh. Lacquer paint has been removed.

Mottled Brown ATM Monophone

Mottled brown British ATM monophone. Special feature is unusual metal dial blank and also the bottom half of a mottled brown block terminal.

Patchwork Mottled Brown AWA 162

The most unusual 162! The colour runs all the way through the bakelite (it’s not painted on!) and the phone is complete, even though the top and bottom do not match. This 1936 phone was manufactured as a display item at the AWA PMG Workshop in Melbourne.

Red AWA 162

One of a kind red AWA 162. Manufactured to be used as a display item at the AWA PMG Workshop in Melbourne. AWA issued only black and ivory phones as standard due to the issue of colour fade caused by the strong sunlight.

... the rarest British telephones from 1929 to the 1950s