Mitchell 302 Salt Water Reel questions.

When my brother passed, I ended up with all his fishing gear. Among the gear is a Mitchell 302 Salt Water reel.

It is a big heavy reel, made in France with a US Patent.

The questions I have:

Is this reel supposed to close the bail when I start cranking the handle as most spinning reels do?

Secondly, is there a website where I can get a real value for it if I were to sell it? A google search came up with prices from $49 to $800.

OK - I finally cranked hard enough to release the bail, answering the first question.

A good place to ask this question:

StripersOnline - Striped bass and striper fishing

There are a lot of “old salts” there who are very knowledgeable about older tackle.

It’s a very good site and not just for stripers.

Seeing what they sell for on Ebay would give you an idea of what someone is willing to pay for them