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Hi everyone, just joined, and this is my first post, great to be here! My first enquiry is about an upright Vogel & Sohn piano owned by my sister in Uruguay, SouthAmerica. We've been trying for a long time to know how old her piano is. I live in Australia but recently went to Uruguay for a visit and looked inside the piano and saw the number 9206 in big black digits on a wooden frame above the strings, and the same number on the inside of one of the side panels in smaller digits. The thing is there's also a four digit number (5xxx) on the back of the piano outside, on the flat wooden piece in between those sound ribs. Somebody told me this number could be an import registration number or similar. The piano also says Plauen, for the city in Germany I imagine, And also near the keys an inscription that reads something like: Imported Exclusively to Uruguay by Julio Mousques, which was a music shop in Uruguay, that closed in the 1930s I think. I would very much appreciate if anybody could give me any information on the year of manufacture of this piano, I'll be forever thankful.
Regards to all of you.

Hello, I'm really sorry, just realized that the wrong serial number on my sister's Vogel & Sohn upright piano. The right serial number is 9209, and can be found twice inside the piano. About the number on the back starting with 5, I will get the exact number soon, because the location of the piano and the time difference, I'm unable to post it for another couple of days. But I repeat the number that's obviously the serial number of the piano: 9209.
Thank you very much.

It dates to roughly 1907. More than 100 years old!

--Cy--

Well, thanks for the information Cy!!!! I'm very surprised and I tell you why. I just got in the page and I was reading a couple of posts where Gregor was telling Jrenfrew that a Vogel & Sohn with a serial # starting with 5 was probably made around 1900, taking on account that a Vogel with serial # starting with 3 was from around 1890. So, based on that, I was ready to believe that a serial # 9209 had to be a late model, like from the 1930s. Do you have a serial number listing for Vogel & Sohn pianos? Or are you very familiar with the brand? I'm sorry, I'm not doubting you in any way, I'm just really surprised, that's all. I value all your information in a way you wouldn't believe my friend, that piano's been in my family for a long time.

I'm happy to give you more details. According to the Pierce Piano Atlas, J. B. Vogel & Sohn was started in 1828 in Plauen, Germany. The earliest number listed is #1600 for 1880, and the last is #15,200, from 1935. In 1905, the first number made was #8,000, and in 1910 they were up to #10,200, so if they made 2,200 pianos over five years, 440 a year, yours is about 1907 or 1908.

Now, my friend Gregor in Germany has access to better information than I do. In Europe, they often put serial numbers on the action itself, and he has reference material for those numbers, too. But the Pierce Piano Atlas seems to agree with Gregor's info; it shows the first number for 1890 as #3600.

For a piano that's been in the family a long time, I love to remove the keys and check for lost treasures while I'm cleaning. Keyboards are at eye-level for toddlers, and they often look at the space between keys like the slot of a coin bank! I've found old coins, guitar picks, and miscellaneous treasures over the years. Ask your technician to check!

--Cy--

Great!! The keys have turned a yellowish color, well I think they already were that color when my family got it, and it's in need of tuning, feel just a little "heavy" when playing. One side panel is a little rough, it has lost its shine and looks like maybe moisture got to it long time ago and the surface got scrapped, and sealed with something matt black color like a sealer or primer. Other than that the piano is in very good condition for its age (shiny black) and has a big sound. Any idea of the value of it? I obviously know that needs a bit of tuning etc,and that pricing something like that is very hard without looking at it, and very relative, I was just trying to imagine in wich basket it would belong, basket of peanuts, basket of middle of the road, or basket of high end value. Thanks again Cy, and everybody!!!