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Furphy water cart collector Roger Frankenberg sells items for thousands
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Roger Frankenberg is an avid collector who has spent decades sifting through piles of metal and discarded scraps in search of a particular treasure.
For 50 years he has collected Furphy water carts and kept them on his farm in Burrumbuttock, north-west of Albury in New South Wales.
Now, he's made a tidy sum after selling dozens of pieces to another collector.
"At last count, there were about 80 ends and about 40 of them were made into water carts," he said.
"So I've got about 20 complete water carts and the rest of them are ends."
Made in Shepparton, the carts date back to the late 1800s when they were ferried around the country providing the life-giving resource.
They have now become prized collector's items worth thousands of dollars.
The water carts are famous for the saying, "That's a Furphy", uttered after hearing something unbelievable.
It became part of the Australian vernacular during World War I after diggers gathered around water carts spinning tall tales.
During the half century he has been collecting, Mr Frankenberg has seen a drastic surge in price for Furphy carts, tanks and ends.
"The lowest price I ever paid for a cart was probably $20, but on average I paid around $100 for a cart," he said.
"The most valuable one that I own is a single end I unearthed from a pile of rusty barbed wire and long grass in a junkyard north of Shepparton.
"I remember paying $20 for it and I estimate its value these days to be in excess of $10,000."
Paul Durden has worked in Shepparton real estate for 18 years and has been heavily involved in clearing sales.
In 2017, he was involved in a sale where an original Furphy water tank sold for $26,000 — a price he believes is still a record.
"We've sold ends on their own for up to $13,000. We've even sold a Furphy gate for $11,000," he said.
"Furphy has got a whole variety of different things that they've made over the years like camp ovens, wheels, pig troughs.
"We've even sold a tap for $2,500."
Mr Durden said demand for Furphy items was not slowing.
"A lot of them are rare and people want them for their collections," he said.
"There are big collectors who are trying to get the full set and they will pay for them.
"I believe there are roughly 24 different types of ends made over the years and there are only one or two full collections out there.
"If you had a crystal ball 50 or 20 years ago and had stocked up on these Furphy items, you'd be laughing now."
For Mr Frankenberg, however, the time has come to say goodbye to his Furphy collection.
"The main reason I'm saying goodbye to them is because my children have very firmly indicated that they don't want to be left with them when I die," he said.
"I'm doing my best to oblige and I have a willing buyer and the sale has been arranged and they will all be gone after Easter with the exception of about three or four that I'll keep."
Mr Frankenberg has a family connection to the Furphy name.
His wife Judy's maiden name was Furphy and the company's founder John Furphy was her great uncle.
He said it was his natural curiosity behind the objects that also sparked his fascination with the old farming equipment.
"You have this poem at the bottom of all the older [water carts] that says, 'Good, better, best. Never let it rest, til your good is better and your better best'," he said.
"I don't think it's ever been proven where that saying came from, and I don't mind a bit of a mystery."
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Furphy water cart collector Roger Frankenberg sells items for thousands – ABC News
