BY HATTIE FRANCIS/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
hattie.francis@tidewaternews.com

MURFREESBORO, N.C.—A Canadian collector recently paid a record $23,250 for a 1972 John Deere tractor that belonged to a Murfreesboro, N.C., farmer.

The unnamed collector purchased the tractor during an estate sale for Vernon Joyner.

“I knew it was a classic tractor, and I knew that several people wanted it,” said Joyner’s widow, Agnes. “I was thankful that it sold for as much as it did.”

“I figured it would sell for about $12,000 or $13,000, but when I heard the sale going on, I knew it was going to do better than that,” she added.

According to Richard Vaughan with Rich and Rich Bonded Auctioneers in Rich Square, N.C., the prior record for the same model tractor was about $17,300.

Vernon Joyner paid $8,9802 for the John Deere 2520 power shift tractor and used it for 38 years.

Prior to the sale, the auction company received calls from people around the country inquiring about the tractor.

“Well, we thought the tractor was going to do well, and we had a lot of interest in it, but we didn’t realize it would be that much interest,” Vaughan said. “Once it passed a certain figure, you know I thought, ‘Well, this is a rare tractor.’”

Bidding for the tractor started at $4,000.

“It just kept going, and so we had one man on the phone in Illinois, and one man bidding there, but we had a lot of live money up to about $15,000, $16,000,” Vaughan said. “Once it got past $17,000, I thought, ‘Wow, what’s going to happen here.’”

The price continued to climb until it was sold.

“I was shocked it went over $20,000,” he said. “I thought it would bring $17,000, but I was shocked it brought $23,250.”

Vaughan said that not many of these tractors were made.

“And then you have people who want to collect a certain series of tractors, like the 20 series,” Vaughan he said.

Because the tractor is so hard to find, he figured people would want to buy it to complete or add to their collections.

After the sale, Agnes Joyner found the invoice for the tractor. The serial number on the invoice matched the number on the tractor.