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CTyankee

(67,617 posts)
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 08:42 AM Oct 23

Blast from the past! Found an old accordian as we pack to move.

dark yellow, black keys. Roma appears as its brand name. Leather (worn) strap.

By today's standards, this thing is ugly. However, is it old enough to be considered an "antique"?
Sorry, no picture (I'll have my moving guy take a picture of it and email it to me and maybe I can post the picture).

Anybody here know about the value of these old accordians?

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Easterncedar

(5,282 posts)
1. I tried to sell one in the 1990s
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 08:51 AM
Oct 23

It was really pretty, keys looked like mother of pearl (though probably not). Fifty bucks was the best offer. I was told then they are just hard to get rid of.

I think the market might be better now, actually.

CTyankee

(67,617 posts)
3. Thanks. Fifty bucks is more than we paid for it! And, honestly, this thing is so ugly it hurts my eyes.
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 09:00 AM
Oct 23

Musical instruments can be beautiful. One of my books on art dwells on how artists loved to paint musical instruments, esp. in the 19th century when the modern symphony was being developed.

The accordion is now considered corny and tacky. But that might be considered OK and downright amusing...

CTyankee

(67,617 posts)
4. It was the property of my husband's family from Wisconsin. He is of German descent. I can see how Germain-Americans can
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 09:03 AM
Oct 23

hand down such an instrument. But no ielderhosen, however...

Easterncedar

(5,282 posts)
8. Liederhosen would be pants for singing (which would be cute!)
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 09:26 AM
Oct 23

Lederhosen are made of leather.

CTyankee

(67,617 posts)
9. I shudda known. Lieder is a song (or maybe just Lied). I don't know German.
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 09:53 AM
Oct 23

But I did study Latin, French and Italian at various times in my life. I must say Latin really helped with the French and Italian, altho I hated having to take two whole semesters (OMIGOD) of it. Now I'm glad I did.

Easterncedar

(5,282 posts)
10. I studied Latin from middle school to grad school
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 10:29 AM
Oct 23

Never got the hang of it. But it does help with grammar!

CTyankee

(67,617 posts)
11. Hubby never had to learn Latin as I did. He hates when I use my Latin to figure words out so I am careful not to flaunt
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 11:27 AM
Oct 23

it.

Easterncedar

(5,282 posts)
6. My mother-in-law as a young mother got the accordion to play around with her kids
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 09:22 AM
Oct 23

She was a force of nature

ProfessorGAC

(75,279 posts)
12. Could Be Worth Something
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 12:17 PM
Oct 23

But, accordions are a tough sell, unless they are pristine.
I inherited one from my father-in-law and got one from a guitar student who inherited it from his grandfather.
Both name brands, both in pretty good shape, but...
They both had a degree of "reed rot".
On one of them, it affected 4 or 5 buttons & the other 2 bass notes and 2 keys on the manual.
If they were in full working order, they'd have been worth over a grand a piece.
With the reed rot, they were worth nothing!
A reed set, installed, was $600-700 per instrument.
I tried for a year & a half to sell them on several different platforms. I got down to a hundred buck on one & $75 on the other. No takers.
I needed the space for guitar cases and a couple spare amps so I just had to junk them.

CTyankee

(67,617 posts)
13. Thanks for the info. I might just leave it behind and let the movers trash it. UNLESS...
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 12:39 PM
Oct 23

hubby objects (he is emotionally unable to leave some stuff behind).

ProfessorGAC

(75,279 posts)
14. I Get It
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 12:54 PM
Oct 23

When my b-i-l had to move into assisted living, we moved his stuff out, grabbed some other stuff & left the rest for the "we buy as is" real estate company.
I grabbed the accordion (still thinking it was worth something) and my wife and her cousin grabbed the brother's guitars.
When I got home, I looked at the guitars. They were total junk. I told her she should have just left them, but she said "We couldn't just leave them behind."
Since I know a lot about guitars & knew they were worthless, , I just let that go and gave them to a guy I know who has a campground spot.
Told him they'd make good kindling.

Lars39

(26,468 posts)
15. Slightly off-topic...take photos of the "hard to let go of stuff"
Thu Oct 23, 2025, 02:37 PM
Oct 23

Sometimes just having a visual of an item is enough to satisfy the memory urge.

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