OT ---Old Piano Plates Wanted

[Robert Goodale]

Assuming that you come across one of these who would you contact and how is
the plate picked up?  Seems that the shipping and crating costs of a plate
would offest any value.  I can't imagine a salvage company wandering the
country with a truck to pick up old piano plates from rebuilding shops.
Even so it would take significant effort to pull a plate from a junk piano.
It would probably take at minimum an hour plus to de-string the piano,
remove the tuning pins, remove the bolts, and then pull it out of the piano.
The whole proposition doesn't sound very profitable.  I imagine the fee for
tuning one piano would come out about the same with far less effort.  Am I
missing something here?

Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, NV



> It has been discovered that certain trace elements are abundant
> in some old piano plates (1890-1910).
>
> Because of global politics an eminent shortage of these metals is
> expected in the US.
>
> These old plates could be worth $200 (picked up still in old cases
> !!!)  or $1,000 if delivered clean.
>
> I know this sounds fantastic but in checking it out, the deeper I
> get the more sense it makes.   It seems the formulation of this
> particular cast iron from this period saves the steel mills
> enormous amounts of time by simply melting them down rather than
> starting from scratch.
>
> If the plate has a one or a four anywhere on it (usually at the
> tail) it may be valuable.   If the plate has numbers that appear
> alone or by themselves or in any configuration of numbers like
>      x 04 x   x 01 x, they may be especially valuable.
>
> PLEASE NOTE:  These plates will only be purchased from members of
> the trade, RPTs preferred.  (there is always a catch,esp when it
> appears too good to be true)  ; )
>
> If you need further details please get in touch.
>
>
>
>
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