John Brinsmead #44120

[jakester75]

Hello I have recently been given a piano. It is an upright piano by John Brinsmead & Sons and it has a number printed under the lid at the top, which is 44120. How do I find out how old this piano is? I also have a huge amount of music dating from the early 1900s, however as I cannot play the piano and just learning this is really advanced for me and I was wondering how I could get rid of this music to people that would appreciate it. There are loads of sheet music from people like Mendellson, Chopard etc.

Thanks

[Bill Kibby]

The number suggests that your piano was made in 1888, but without photos, I cannot guess if this is correct. See also the Brinsmead enquiry lower down the page...

If you read my Numbers page at pianogen.org you will see that the published dates of Brinsmeads' numbers are misleading, for example 29,000 is after 1884, although this makes no practical difference to value. NOBODY CAN GUESS THE VALUE OR CONDITION OF A PIANO WITHOUT TUNING IT, but it is always interesting to have photos of antique pianos for my files. Sadly, although I am fascinated by Victorian pianos, they rarely fetch as much as 90 pounds at local auctions here in the UK, unless they have been professionally restored, indeed many fetch less than 20 pounds. The market may be different in other parts of the world.

I have no way of helping you sell music. Where in the world are you?

[jakester75]

I am actually in Carlisle at the minute but I have to move abroad soon and I now have to get rid of my piano. My piano is a dark wood colour with some flower carvings at the left, right and middle (top and bottom) on the part above the keys, not sure if this will help with the dating.