Leonard rod

Wondering if I could get a little help. A friend drove into my driveway the other day, got out of his car and handed me a rod case. I asked what he would like me to do with it and he said "Fish it, I don't care for it and I can't remember where I got it". It's a Leonard, model 504, 5', 3 3/4 oz. 4 wt., graphite. I have the serial number also but not with me at this time. The gentleman knew nothing about it and asked what I thought it was worth. Is there anyone out there that could estimate the value of this rod? If not, could someone direct me in the right direction? Thanks. kgilroy

kgilroy:

If it is a light grey colored blank it's probably an old Leonard Graftek with the blanks being made by Exxon; yes Exxon. I once saw one for sale for about $200 with a Leonard tube but I have no idea if it's worth that much. I wanted to buy it but never did and I guess I'm glad I didn't because the Exxon blanks had a breakage issue. So if you keep it; you may not want to fish it. Later Leonard went to Diamondback for their blanks so if it's a Diamondback blank you should be OK although I don't know how to tell the difference myself.

Even though this is a fiberglass site, post your question here:

http://fiberglassflyrodders.yuku.com/forums/3

Check out my post "Leonard Fiberglass". There are some comments about Leonard graphite there among other places.

Post some pics if you can!

The Leonard Graftek rods (with the pale-grey blanks) didn't last long.
The Golden Shadow 504G (5', 4wt, golden brown blank) that you have is from their second line and has a boron reinforced ferrule to reduce the breakage problems of the Grafteks.
It's high quality rod and will probably one of the few graphite rods that will be considered collectible in the future