Pleyel Help

[BenGPS@aol.com]

I am a recent subcriber and have enjoyed looking over your cyber-shoulders.
 It's time to leap in.  Maybe this post will be of some interest. Excuse the
two short paragraphs of storytellin'; storyteller's license.

One small college I work for just asked me to appraise a piano which was
given to them.  The college needed to know if the piano was worth over $1000
so they could appropriately list the donor in the Presidents Club.  They also
wanted to send the donor a statement of thanks with acknowledgement of the
gift worth x-amount of $.

I finally found the piano after bouncing thru about five offices and four
secretaries.  The piano was located in a maintenance barn behind 20 rows of
theatre seats in storage, which proved to be more interesting to get past
than all those secretaries.  Anyway the donor, as it turns out, is an antique
dealer who "75% restored" a 1850 Pleyel grand.  It had some new strings and
hammers haphazardly thrown on, it kind-of played (the hammers hit the
strings!),  and a little price tag of $1900 on the fairly beautiful case.
 Personally I do not think (especially after talking to the music dept) that
it will ever play a Chopin mazurka again.

My questions:
1. Does this piano have some value?
2. And the ethical meat here, what would you do?

Obviously I am at liberty to plead ignorance to my college friends.  I told
them I would try to find some info about the worth.  And I really need to
know if there is some special value here, because then it is easy.   What the
college really wants is for me to say the piano is worth $1500 so they can be
done with the gift and not offend a donor.

Wash my hands?  Thanks.  Ben Griffith, RPT