One of the primary ways you can begin to investigate the value of your piano is by locating the serial number. The serial number is considered your piano’s birth certificate, and it is the way the original manufacturer assigned it a unique.
However, locating it can be tricky. We provide our customers with the following real-life diagrams to quickly help them find the serial number on their grand or upright piano.
Ivers and Pond Piano Serial Nos. 1939 Chickering & Son Baby Grand Piano UNITED 1939 Chickering & Son Baby Grand Piano UNITED STATES, 1939 A 1939 Chickering & Son baby grand piano, serial No. The piano features a full eighty-eight. Series 2: Publications Chickering & Sons Piano Company Collection NMAH.AC.0264 Page 7 of 19 The Jonas Chickering Centennial Celebration, Printed in the Year 1924, by Cheltenham for Chickering and Sons of Boston, Massachusetts, undated Box 1, Folder 3 'The Chickering Halo', possible editorial clipped from Piano Trade Magazine, 1923 February. Chickering & Sons. Jonas passed away in 1853. By 1908 the company was sold to the Aeolian Corp. Of New York, and later this merged into the Aeolian-American piano company in 1932. The Chickering plant located in East Rochester, NY was closed in 1982, and Chickering was sold to the Wurlitzer Piano Co. Many piano manufacturers placed serial numbers in a variety of places. Pianos also have other numbers printed on them such as part numbers and many other pianos do not have a serial number at all. Many pianos will have a 4, 5 or 6 digit serial number to identify the age of the piano.
Grand serial numbers like on the Steinway pictured above may be found in many different places. The various places on the diagram point to some possible locations.
Typically, a serial number has 5 to 7 digits, but in some cases, it may have fewer or more and may also include a letter. This is a view of the grand with the lid open and the music desk removed. It may be necessary to clean dust off the harp or soundboard before the serial number can be seen.
Upright or vertical piano serial numbers can usually be found by lifting the lid and looking inside on the gold harp or plate. It is usually not necessary to remove the upper front panel to find the serial number (as in this picture).
By locating the serial number, you can begin your research to know the value of the piano. The first thing the serial number tells you is the age of the piano. Paired with the who made the piano, the age is a key piece of information, and many piano experts can begin to assign a value quickly after assessing the condition and a few other criteria.
Sometimes, however, a serial number can be nearly impossible to find, even to professionals who know where to look and have identified thousands of serial numbers in their years of expertise. If you are running into this problem, feel free to give us a call, and we’ll be happy to work with you to locate your serial number.
Contact us today!
Original image sources:
Grand piano: https://www.amromusic.com/
Upright piano: http://www.steinhovenpianos.com/
Chickering and Sons is a Boston-based piano manufacturing company which is known for their award-winning pianos and music instruments of topnotch quality.
The company experienced changes in ownership and manufacturing management throughout the years although never failing to produce high quality musical instrument that the company name is best associated with.
Company History
The company was founded in 1823 by Jonas Chickering and James Stewart. However, their partnership was dissolved four years later. In 1830, Chickering became partner with John Mackay under the name Chickering and Company and later changed to Chickering and Mackays until the death of senior Mackay in 1841.
The company was reorganized and renamed to Chickering and Sons in 1853 following the destruction of the company’s factory in December 1852 in a massive fire. The company became part of American Piano Company (Ampico) in 1908. Today, the name Chickering and Sons continues to be used as a piano brand under the Baldwin Piano Company, which bought the company’s assets and rights.
Recognition and Contribution to the Field of Piano Development Technology
The most notable contribution of Chickering and Sons piano manufacturing, to the development of piano technology, is their introduction of a one-piece cast iron plate to support the greater string tension of larger pianos.
Jonas Chickering also invented a new deflection of the strings and in 1845 the first convenient method for over stringing in square pianos. Instead of setting the strings side by side, the company introduced substituting an arrangement of the string in two banks, one over the other. This does not only save space but also brings the powerful bass strings directly over the most resonant part of the sound-board, the principle which completes to this day in the construction of all pianos, both grands and uprights.
In 1850, Henry Steinway (Steinweg), founder of Steinway and Sons pianos, showed interest and admiration to the Chickering piano after he saw the piano used during a musical tour in Boston.
In 1867, the brand received the Imperial Cross of the Legion of Honor, one of the world's most prestigious non-military awards, given by Emperor Napoleon III for services to the art of music. The honor was only one of more than 200 awards Chickering has received over the years.
Chickering and Sons is a Boston-based piano manufacturing company which is known for their award-winning pianos and music instruments of topnotch quality.
The company experienced changes in ownership and manufacturing management throughout the years although never failing to produce high quality musical instrument that the company name is best associated with.
Company History
The company was founded in 1823 by Jonas Chickering and James Stewart. However, their partnership was dissolved four years later. In 1830, Chickering became partner with John Mackay under the name Chickering and Company and later changed to Chickering and Mackays until the death of senior Mackay in 1841.
The company was reorganized and renamed to Chickering and Sons in 1853 following the destruction of the company’s factory in December 1852 in a massive fire. The company became part of American Piano Company (Ampico) in 1908. Today, the name Chickering and Sons continues to be used as a piano brand under the Baldwin Piano Company, which bought the company’s assets and rights.
Recognition and Contribution to the Field of Piano Development Technology
The most notable contribution of Chickering and Sons piano manufacturing, to the development of piano technology, is their introduction of a one-piece cast iron plate to support the greater string tension of larger pianos.
Jonas Chickering also invented a new deflection of the strings and in 1845 the first convenient method for over stringing in square pianos. Instead of setting the strings side by side, the company introduced substituting an arrangement of the string in two banks, one over the other. This does not only save space but also brings the powerful bass strings directly over the most resonant part of the sound-board, the principle which completes to this day in the construction of all pianos, both grands and uprights.
In 1850, Henry Steinway (Steinweg), founder of Steinway and Sons pianos, showed interest and admiration to the Chickering piano after he saw the piano used during a musical tour in Boston.
In 1867, the brand received the Imperial Cross of the Legion of Honor, one of the world's most prestigious non-military awards, given by Emperor Napoleon III for services to the art of music. The honor was only one of more than 200 awards Chickering has received over the years.
Locate the age of your Chickering and Sons Piano within the chart found below:
1824 - 100
1825 - 316
1830 - 716
1835 - 1980
1840 - 4235
1845 - 6490
1850 - 10000
1855 - 15400
1860 - 22000
1865 - 27000
1870 - 35500
1875 - 46000
1880 - 55500
1885 - 70000
1890 - 78500
1895 - 85000
1900 - 93000
1905 - 105000
1910 - 115000
1915 - 124000
1920 - 132500
1925 - 139700
1930 - 148400
1935 - 155200
1940 - 167200
1947 - 187000
1950 - 195000
1955 - 204000
1960 - 212750
1965 - 221117
1970 - 230300
1975 - 237578
1981 - 247477
Chickering Piano Company
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Chickering And Sons Serial Number
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Chickering And Sons
