Golly! This conversation reminds me of when I kept attending auctions in hopes of acquiring an anvil. I kept being outbid — until, that is, one came up for auction that it appeared someone had "blown" for a 4th of July celebration, or something, and welded back together. (Apparently it was fairly common to stack one anvil atop another with black powder between the two and light the powder off.) This anvil had been broken in half through the "waist." I wandered around, found a hammer, went back to the anvil and played on the "face" for awhile. It seemed fine to me, so I bid on it and got a ca. 110 lb. anvil for under $50. It has served me well ever since. That was 12 years ago.
If I NEEDED a #7 jointer plane (which I don't), I doubt I would resist using that one. And while I buy nothing to mount on the wall or plant geraniums in, I'd also be sorely tempted with that beauty — I, too, would've acquired it simply because of the love and so on exhibited by the person who restored it. "Right On," as some of us said in the olde days.
