<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16608" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I was called to evaluate a spinet piano in a bowling alley, the piano was stored in a back room. The owner met me during the day and opened up so I could look at the piano. When I lifted the lid a string that had been pinched under the lid dropped down to the bottom of the piano. I removed the knee board and saw a foil packet with the string tied to it. 15 silver certificate $100. dollar bills. The foil packet could be pulled up and added to or subtracted from and the lowered back in place. The lady said the piano belonged to her mom and after she died they found money all over the house. She gave me one of them.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fenton</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=tunerdude@comcast.net href="mailto:tunerdude@comcast.net">Robin Blankenship</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:34 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Treasures in pianos</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Things found by myself in pianos include:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>a shiny new 1918 U.S. Quarter</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>an unfired .357 magnum round</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>live mice, with nest</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>pre-Civil War  dust, undisturbed</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>part of a mid-1860's German postcard, used to shim the pinblock</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>about an entire bushel of dead roaches, plus their "stuff" so encrusting the action that it was utterly unusable at that time ( I did manage to salvage it)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>regurgitated cream soda float</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>various snake skins</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>blood splatters from wounded Union soldiers</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>USED condoms</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>a large number of opportunities to do heroic pitch raises</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm still looking for the matching $140,000 in cash that was discovered inside an old upright by a tech up in Minnesota about 18 years ago.....</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Keeps one guessing, though!!!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robin Blankenship</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Matoaca, Virginia</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=custos3@comcast.net href="mailto:custos3@comcast.net">Israel Stein</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:47 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Treasures in pianos</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>At 06:28 AM 2/28/2008, Paul T. Williams wrote:<BR><BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><FONT size=2>The coolest things I found in a piano was a 1905 Canadian penny (big like a 50 cent piece and brass, I think) and a liberty dime.  pw</FONT> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Then there are the tear-jerkers. One time inside an old upright belonging to an elderly lady I found an old photograph of a beautiful young woman (obviously herself years ago) with a man who appeared to be a "significant other". Or perhaps the "love interest of the moment"? Who knows. But she became visibly emotional when she saw it... <BR><BR>Sometimes the tears (of frustration?) are mine.There's the Stieff grand that I couldn't get the action out of for a long time - it just wouldn't move. I don't remember how I finally got it out - but it turned out that someone dropped a bunch of saltwater taffy into the keybed (in the treble, where there is a space between the strings and the rim). It melted and glued the keyframe to the keybed... Took a long time to scrape it all off..  <BR><BR>Israel Stein <BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>