NOKOMIS, Ill. — Aumann Auctions recently sold a 1913 Case 30-60 $1,470,000 to break the world record. This makes it not only the most expensive antique tractor ever sold, but the most expensive tractor ever sold. In comparison, the most expensive modern tractor, the Case IH Quadtrac, costs approximately $600,000. The 1913 Case 30-60 was sold to an undisclosed bidder on April 21 during Aumann Auctions’ annual Pre-30 online auction.
“The 1913 Case 30-60 is one of only five known of the original 500 built to still exist, and the first model of gasoline tractor built by the J. I. Case Company,” says Kurt Aumann, auctioneer. “The other four are tied up in private and museum collections, and this one will be carefully delivered to a private collection in the Northeast.”
The previous record for the most expensive antique tractor sold was a 1910 Marshall Colonial Class C Tractor for $535,000, which was sold in April 2019 by Aumann Auctions.
“Scarcity and demand drives prices for these antique tractors,” says Aumann. “Then there is the historical significance of the tractor being the first model of gasoline tractor Case built,” he adds.
New collectors are entering the tractor hobby each year as new interest grows in these historically significant pieces. As demand for these low production early tractors increases, the prices will follow.
Now known as CASE IH, the J. I. Case Company founded in 1842 originally started by building threshing machines before becoming a leader in steam power. As Case predicted the new internal combustion engine would take over steam power on the farm, in the early 1900s it started experimenting with gas engines. In 1910, Case released their first gas tractor, The Case 60. In 1913, this tractor would have cost approximately $2,500; today it would cost nearly $72,000 when adjusted for inflation.
The Pre-’30 Auction was started in 2017 by Aumann Vintage Power. Kurt Aumann, auctioneer and owner of Aumann Auctions Inc., saw the need for a stand-alone event for collectors to showcase, buy and sell early pieces from our agricultural past.
