Steinway D history

mm · Post by mm » 30 Jul 2006, 09:36

Hi all.

A local concert venue has a nice old Steinway D and I am trying to investigate its history.
It has an unusual serial number - K263.
I think the piano may be from the 1920s.
Could this have been a Steinway hire piano?
Any thoughts?

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 30 Jul 2006, 11:14

There is no way to trace the life history of every piano once it leaves the factory. It is a common mistake to assume that the first number you find is THE number, there are usually several numbers inside a piano. K263 might be a dealer's stock number, it is not a Steinway serial number. See
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/piano ... mbers.html

mm · Post by mm » 25 Sep 2006, 18:40

Thanks for your reply Bill. I managed to look inside the piano when it was being tuned and found the number 1382-Z stamped in a few places. This didn't seem to be the serial number either, but I made an enquiry with Steinway & Sons and received this helpful reply from Hartwig Kalb:
According to our records the production number Z-1382 corresponds with the serial number 237395, which is a Hamburg made concert grand model D, which was originally shipped to Geneva on 25.11.1927.

So now we know. The piano is 79 years old and still sounding great.