The down side of owning a rare billiard or snooker cue is that the temptation to sell it can come upon you quite suddenly and after selling the feeling of loss can be quite long lasting. From time to time many of us are short of funds, this can influence our decisions more than we realise.

My friend owned a Reece cue that had two breaks recorded on the badge, both of these breaks took place in 1907. He had taken this cue to India and competed in the world amateur billiards championship with it. There are lots of Reece cues about but the 1907 is becoming quite rare. My friend sold his Reece and I am sure at the time felt that he had done well financially but on reflection felt that he would rather have the cue back than the money, unfortunately the buyer had sold the cue and could not get it back.

I would always advise a person who owns an old cue to think long and hard before parting with it. There is no doubt that modern three quarter cues are more flexible in terms of extensions and so on and yet many people would not replace their old trusty for the most expensive of modern cues.

Having said that many old cues end up at car boot sales selling for £20 or less and so some cues never attain the status of being looked on with sentimentality.

My friend is still a good billiards player but regrets selling his cue more than two years after doing so. If you know where a Tom Reece cue exists that my friend can get hold of please let me know, the cue need not necessarily be identical and yet I feel it must exceed 57" and be still in single piece form.

Reece cues were made in ash and maple and carried badges that commemorated breaks made in 1907, 1913 and 1919 along with a later cue from 1927 that was made by Peradon. The earlier Reece cues were made by Burroughes and Watts and contain there name along with the reference to each break on the badge.

I myself am not immune to the effects of shortness of cash. A few years ago I had a good Burroughes and Watts Eureka cue, at this time I had just bought a house and my gas boiler had given up the ghost so cash was as rare as a Clark Mc Conachy cue. I was offered good money for my Eureka, at this very point in time. I had promised myself that I would keep the cue as part of my collection even though they are not considered as rare as many of my other cues. In the end I gave in, thinking more about the boiler, than the collection.

I have seen other Eureka cues but none that are as good as the one that I used to own.

Collecting can revolve around decisions made and offers for swaps taken up or declined, I have found myself swapping perfectly good cues just to own a cue that is new to my collection.

If a cue has additional sentimental value to you my advice is never tell a collector that you are considering selling it. If you do he or she will of course make offers until you either, agree or he or she runs out of cash. I am trying to help reunite my friend with an appropriate Reece cue due to his sentimental memories rather than the value in sterling that the cue is considered to be worth and yet I guess to him the cue has become priceless.

David Smith