Arthur Allison

[Greek piano]

Hello, can somebody help me? I have a piano of Arthur Allison with the serial Nr of 17305. Is it from 1885 about? Does somebody know how much and where I can sell it? It is not tuned.

[Bill Kibby]

My Numbers page
http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html
explains that dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is often not as simple as it seems. The page confirms that your number is probably just before 1883, but check in case there are other numbers inside. Most pianos have several. I could tell you more if you could post photos here to show what the whole piano looks like, but in that period, you might learn more from
http://www.pianohistory.info/victorian.html


As it says at the top of this forum, nobody anywhere can guess the value or condition of a piano without inspecting it on the spot, and checking how well it holds in tune, so your local tuner is the best person to ask about that. Here in Britain, where antique pianos are plentiful, unrestored ones have very little value, and we are offered several each year for nothing. The most important factor deciding the value of a piano is not its name, but its condition, and the most important aspect of that is whether it holds in tune, because if it doesn't, repairs can cost over a thousand pounds, and this is usually more than an old piano is worth. Piano dealers don’t normally deal with antiques, and antiques dealers don’t know much about pianos.