If you get a minute, slip over to Ebay and take a look at item# 6167305165.  If it goes for less than $100, I’d be surprised.  This is one of the classics that you can still find for $5 to $10 at flea markets and estate sales, rounded and grooved, and likely very silvery-black.  You can clean them up, flatten them and they cut like new.  They don’t cut many this large today, but they’re fantastic for large plane irons.  With Stanley irons from 1910 to 1925, you can shave right from this stone …. but strop it (rouge on oiled leather) and the edge will last all day in clean hardwood.  If the “in-the-box collectors” don’t drive the price too high, I’ll slip the label off it, insert it into a nice burl walnut footed box for use, and put the box and label away for the future.  Sweet!  The marbled stones are a lot softer and better reserved for pocket knives, and the hard, slick black ones (in this size) ….. well, if you run across one, send it along to me and I’ll get back to you with an assessment and cash offer!

John in Texas