Aeolian Pianola

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Hello all, I've got a Aeolian pianola which as been in the family since 1983 when my parents bought it for me as my first piano. We were told at the time that the age of the piano was 1940 or so. Certainly WW2 era, but before the US entered. It looks like a latter style piano with rounded edges so I've previously had no doubt. The problem is the serial number is very low. According to the pianos.co.uk serial number search, 51100 is from 1917/18. The following links are pics of the piano:

1. frame stamp


2. Serial number on the side (the same number is near the action bolt)


3. Front on


4. Side on


If anyone can help me with an explanation I'd be extrememly grateful. The only thing I can think of that the original piano has been "re-skinned", but it seems far too extreme. Cheers, C.

[Bill Kibby]

A growing number of websites offer apparently simple dating of pianos by numbers, but it often isn't that simple at all. These dates are usually based on books, which in turn quote from other books which are sometimes wrong or misleading, like the Steck / Aeolian numbers for example. See
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/piano ... mbers.html

[flow]

A growing number of websites offer apparently simple dating of pianos by numbers, but it often isn't that simple at all. These dates are usually based on books, which in turn quote from other books which are sometimes wrong or misleading, like the Steck / Aeolian numbers for example. See
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/piano ... mbers.html

Thanks for you response, Bill. It looks like I'll stick to my original age estimates, albeit taking it with a decent pound of salt.

Cheers,
C.