Antiques Roadshow type of question?

[Janice]

Does anyone have any interest in this type of thing?

The reason I ask is when clearing out one of our old boxes of stuff the other day, we came across something that was given to us donkey's years ago by DH's Step.FIL and well, we have no idea whether it is worth keeping, selling or just chucking it in the bin.

So..........when in doubt..... ask at the Dis! :)

It is a Polyphon. A small boxed antique Music Box type of thing. It is wooden, veneered Cherry I think, and it has 8 metal discs 6 1/2" in size. When you crank it with the handle on the side, the disc spins (as in like a record) and it plays the tune. The discs are all marked with the name of the tune and they include: The Washington Post, Far From The Ball, Lead Kindly Light, Nearer My God To Thee, The Belle of New York. The rest are in German. They all come from Leipzig and I think the box was made there too.

Anyone have any ideas on this - any info?

Are we holding onto a fortune (I dont think so somehow) or is it just junk :)

[UKDEB]

Jan,

I just tried a Google search using just <b>Polyphon</b> and got loads of results (most of them German, admittedly!). One link has one for sale for $14,000, but judging by the picture, it's a bit more grand than the one you're describing!

[UKDEB]

Me again. Is it like any of these? (http://www.goantiques.com/cgi-bin/texis/scripts/mainsearch/new_searchresults.html) Definitely not for the bin, I'd say.

[Janice]

This is what it looks like, but it is smaller and not in as good condition as this, but still fairly good

http://images.goantiques.com/thumbnails/DVA1361IMAGE31.jpg

[Karyn.Phil]

Hi

I saw one of those on an American version of the Antiques Roadshow a couple of weeks ago, it was boxed and the valuer was raving about it, very excited saying how wonderful it was. Definately worth a trip to local antiques valuer or if you are prepared to pay I think some auction houses like Sotherbys will value from a photo so long as it has details of the makers mark etc.

We were valueing old radios a few months ago prior to selling them on e.bay and got a lot of advice by e.mailing collectors that had their own web sites (I thought I was an anorak until I saw radio collectors web sites!) There's bound to be a collector out there who will have a web page and will help you.

Will this find pay for your next Disney trip.....or even a villa??? :bounce:

Karyn

[Janice]

Thanks Karyn for that info - I have emailed an Antique Collector whose address I found on a website, and he mailed me back saying that it might fetch about £2000.00 if we have it restored. The restoration may cost about £150.00 so we think it is worth the outlay and I am now looking to find one local to us.

But I will still do some investigating before we make any final decision - it has no sentimental value to us at all, but should we still keep it? Such decisions to make!!! LOL ;)

will keep you posted with what the outcome is :)

[BONZO]

Looks very interesting!

I wonder if you could take it to a London Auction house like Sotheby's etc to get it valued?