I was browsing on ebay a few minutes ago and came across an auction for a Zenith radio in terrible shape--cabinet broken in several places, dial escutcheon rusted . . . looks as if the set was in an accident or was dropped, etc., then left in a very damp or wet environment for months or even years (the latter might account for the rusted dial plate).
I wonder if this set even works. If so, the cracked cabinet would create a safety hazard. (I wouldn't have any radio or TV in that condition on display in my living room, either.)
I would have started the bidding at $0.01 given the condition of the cabinet, even if the radio still plays (which I doubt). As it is, the opening bid, IMO, is too high. This was probably an excellent radio (with the phono input and large "dial speaker") when it was new, but in its present condition, I'm not so sure. Perhaps it will be of some value to a collector who is willing to put some work into it, however (chassis overhaul, new cabinet). There are much better looking Zeniths of this model and others, in better shape, to be found on ebay (I've seen some of them--the models in brown cabinets, IMHO, are great looking).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=38035