Artley silver flute made in 1948

[SandyCoggeshall]

I have an Artley Silver Flute purchased from the Lyons Band Instrument Company on Sept. 14, 1948. (I have the original sales receipt for its purchase and it is listed as a "silver" flute.) I used it from 1948 until 1956 and it has been stored in its carrying case for the past 59 years. I would like to sell or donate this instrument to a school district but am having a difficult time trying to find out the instruments value, if there is one. I understand the quality of the Artley flute went down when the company moved to Mexico some time in the 60s or 70s. I have been unable to learn any details about my particular flute. The only number engraved on all parts of my instrument is 4910. It also has engraved on it, Symphony Deluxe - Elkhart, IND. I've been unable to find any Artley flute in surfing the Internet with the 4910 number.

Could anyone give me any information regarding my Artley silver flute?

[pied_piper]

There's probably not a lot that you will find about the Artley Symphony model flute. As you noted, Artley didn't keep good records of the serial numbers prior to 1952 and serial number 10000. Around then Artley was making a couple thousand flutes each year. Since you bought yours in 1948, a good guess would be that it was made around 1947 or 1948.

There were a couple of variations on the Artley Symphony flute. Some had a silver headjoint, some had a silver plated headjoint, all of them had silver plated body and keys. If it's not engraved or marked "Silver" on the headjoint, it is almost certainly silver plated.

I have a slightly newer Artley Symphony (1960s era) that I bought on eBay a few years ago and I paid $20 for it. Unless it is playable and in pristine, like-new condition, it is probably not worth a lot more. At the high end they occasionally sell for $100 or if completely rebuilt, maybe $200. The Artley Symphony is not a bad flute. In good condition, they play OK but not great - good for a beginner. Unfortunately, there are a lot of old Artley flutes out there and they are not in high demand so the prices remain fairly low. See this eAby list of Artley Symphony flutes that have SOLD recently:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... ld=1&rt=nc

Since you said it has not been played for 59 years, it will probably need a complete repad to put it in playing condition. That would likely cost more than the flute is currently worth.