Old Kraftsman made in France flute. Preserve or melt?

[kkistler]

Greetings from the Ozarks.
I deal in silver - sterling, coin silver, etc. including broken down flutes not worth restoring. I recently bought this old flute marked Made in France - all three sections are marked Sterling Silver. I have spent hours on the web looking for any info on Old Kraftsman flutes without success. Is this a rare flute worth preserving? I don't want to destroy a collectable flute.

Serial Number C45807
Length: APPROX 26 1/4"
17.9 oz
Serial Number: C45807

This link will take you to the ebay listing/photos (at least for now). Scroll down the listing page to see all the photos:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-OLD-KRA ... true&rt=nc

Thanks.

[pied_piper]

I've seen a lot of different flute brands, new and old, but I've never heard of "Old Kraftsman".

A flute like that weighs about 16 oz. Typically, on flutes such as this, only the tubing is sterling silver while the keys, ribs, and posts are plated. There are lots of other non-silver parts like screws, rods, springs, and pads. If you subtract out the the weight of all the non-silver parts, it leaves perhaps 4-6 oz. of sterling silver. Since the eBay price + shipping was over $100 for that flute, I'm surprised you would find it worthwhile to melt it for it's silver content.

[Aclewis]

How old is this flute?