Zenith Trans Oceanic Royal 1000 Radio, circa 1959

As seen on "Pawn Stars" on the History Channel! This is an early transistor radio produced by Zenith around 1959. It has 8 bands, which include BC (broadcast), weather, marine and shortwave bands. You can listen in to all sorts of cool stuff.

It has the most flexible antenna system we've ever seen. If the built in "wave magnet" isn't good enough, you can push a button to release the 3 foot long antenna hidden in the handle (we don't picture it all). If that still doesn't work, you can open the back and remove another wave magnet, use the suction cups to attach it to a window, and plug it in.

As far as we can tell, everything works perfectly. There is no corrosion in the battery box. There are a few minor blemishes, but the exterior is almost perfect. The tuning knob inside does show some wear.

It looks like we have every piece of paper that came with the unit. The promotional booklet is still tied on with a golden cord. We also have the Operating Guide (with the warranty card cut out), the Service Manual (which includes schematics), and a guide to short wave programs. There's also a time zone calculator and log book built into the front cover.

Pretty amazing set. It's bound to have been expensive when it was new.