What Grade board do we have here?

[1956]

They are very old I think military electronics?

[mikeinreco]

should go with finger boards but your buyer would be the best to answer

[PartTimeScrapper]

thats a finger card

[1956]

thats a finger card

The board is 10 inches long is it a card or a board?

[Mechanic688]

You can tell it's old because they used all transistors (26) and no IC chips (probably not made yet). Other than that, it would be up to your buyer.
Is that gold on the traces or is it a gold varnish to protect the traces??

[armygreywolf]

Probably varnish...but...were talking 1970s here, a time when this board was probably made when gold was between 90-160 per lb...and a board like this would have cost a consumer or a company 1500 bucks.

[webuyselltradestuff]

1956 - cards and boards are really the same thing....the main difference is that a "CARD" it plugged into something else and can be removed....a "BOARD" is generally the main thing in the item in question....however it can get confusing since some things have more than one board in them (say a network switch)....the gold "fingers" on the bottom of that one tells me it plugged into something else...

Either way, size doesn't matter in this case...some old cards are HUGE (10-12" and some larger). We just use both terms interchangeably....you will see some listings for "finger boards" or "finger cards" and that is generally the same thing.

I have seen similar things to what you have, but unless the tracing is GOLD and not a varnish like other mentioned, I am not sure most buyers would buy it as finger board...it would be something to either ask your buyer about with pics (if you have alot of them)...to me if not GOLD, I see these go into the low grade boards (ie <.50/lb) vs finger boards ($3-4/lb)....again hard to tell from the pics.

[Mechanic688]

Either way, size doesn't matter in this case...some old cards are HUGE (10-12" and some larger)

I agree as it had to be that big for the parts they had to use, large capacitors, 26 transistors instad of 1 or 2 IC chips, and larger resistors.
There was no micro parts back then. Definitely old school.

but unless the tracing is GOLD and not a varnish like other mentioned, I am not sure most buyers would buy it as finger board.

Looks to be same color, texture so I'd guess gold across the board.

[BRASSCATCHER]

Can you post a picture of the other side of the card? Would like to see if that is plated too.

[BRASSCATCHER]

Also you may want to cut one of those resistors and see if there is a small gold disk inside. Also check the legs on them.

[Mechanic688]

Also you may want to cut one of those resistors and see if there is a small gold disk inside. Also check the legs on them.

Those are the carbon filmed style.

In smaller-value resistors, designed for lower-power circuits, the copper winding is replaced by a spiral pattern of carbon. Resistors like this are much cheaper to make and are called carbon-film.

How do resistors work? What's inside a resistor?

[etack]

Those are the carbon filmed style.


How do resistors work? What's inside a resistor?

I think brass ment transistor not sure though. It does look like the traces are gold. like in old IBM and Tektronix boards.

Eric

[Mechanic688]

I think brass ment transistor not sure though. It does look like the traces are gold. like in old IBM and Tektronix boards.

Eric

Might be right there, the silver looking transistors sometimes have a gold plated bottom and legs.

[BRASSCATCHER]

Yup thats what I meant....thanks Mike.

[mikeinreco]

If you had several Ebay could be an option........Sometimes collectors will pay much more than scrap........I have sold boards for 3 and 4 times their scrap value and I have also lost out on auctions............Just another option it is unfortunate GOLD is down so refiners are probably not paying top dollar right now

[BRASSCATCHER]

The closer I look at that card the more my mouth waters.

[1956]

They are very old I think military electronics?

I took a couple of pictures on my desk so the details are more prominent, I like mikenrico suggestion these are really something a collector would enjoy, I have a dozen of them all a little different but all very heavy gold and silvera couple of the have dates in marker pen from 3/1965

[BRASSCATCHER]

I am wondering if there is more gold plate under the solder. Looks like it was applied by hand to insulate the board from heat. Silver would be a good choice since it has a high melting temp so it would act like a heat sink.

[1956]

I am not sure if there is more gold plate under the solder, but it is very possible the silver is a very thick layer, for sure done by hand.

[mikeinreco]

personally I would roll the dice with ebay..........Especially if I didn't give much for them