Hello whistlers of the world,
A guitar player here who happened to stumble upon what one in your community may call a treasure trove of Irish whistles and a few other pieces I’m not sure about… I’ve been doing non stop research on these (Thanks for the help Chiff & Fipple!) since I got them, as I had no knowledge of them prior to that.
Long story short, I have identified a few that may ring a bell to you… HOLY COW I’M NOT LYING - A COPELAND “LOW D” Brass Whistle!!! - oZ - ROSE - Silkstone - and many others I know nothing or little about… and that’s why I’m posting here, giving you pro’s on this stuff the opportunity to test your skills on helping me identify a few pieces. I just found what appears to be an extension piece to a flute or something that has an old 20P coin stuck to the end of it… I’m not sure at this point if that’s a real coin or just an impression or casting or something, but the coin is apparently quite rare if it’s real. This Estate had so much high end instruments (Dulcimers, AutoHarps, Banjo, etc.) and high end Waterford Crystal, which is all Irish type stuff, made me think that this guy must have either been of that heritage or loved the culture. Either way, A bunch of awesomeness I’ve resurfaced, but I need your help to know what it is!
Go to http://tinypic.com/ and choose your photo. Resize it to Message Board and then upload it. Then copy and paste the resulting text into your posting. Look forward to seeing the photos.
Sad to say, in this country’s “folk music scene” the origins and nationalities of things are often misunderstood and everything gets conflated.
Being from Appalachia, and quite aware of the origins and traditional milieu of two of our native instruments, the hammer dulcimer and lap dulcimer, it’s dismaying to see the way these have become thought of here as “Irish” instruments. Nothing could be further from the truth, as these dulcimers were brought here by German immigrants, our so-called “Pennsylvania Dutch” (Deutsch) and travelled south into Appalachia where they underwent considerable evolution.
Here’s the Appalachian lap dulcimer playing West Virginia music
So to see dulcimers made with celtic designs etc and being made a staple instrument in “Irish” bands here is somewhat baffling. Appalachia, by the way, had virtually no Irish immigration, having been settled by British-Americans in the late 18th century and then bypassed by the mass migrations from Ireland beginning in the 1840s. In the counties my people are from, in south-west West Virginia and central West Virginia, virtually all the surnames are British. Irish surnames are rare and in every case I know of are recent.
On the other hand German surnames become more common as you get further north in Appalachia and approach the West Virginia/Pennsylvania border. Just a year ago I drove for hours along this border (Interstate 68 between Morgantown and Hagerstown and then up Interstate 81 to Chambersberg) and it was fascinating to see creek names, business names, street names, etc suddenly shift from British to German.
$400 for that? Is that not a steal? I’ve been told it should bring close to $1000 US. Here are some pics, and I hope you all who seemed “annoyed” by the fact that I called this “Irish type stuff” - I thought I was clear that I knew nothing about what I was posting, which was kind of the point of doing it. So you pros could help correct me - NEWBIE
I can add more if you need help - One is a “MODEL F” Fife I believe… not sure if I got a good pic of that. And to answer someones question, yes I have something with a 20P bronze/golden looking “end of a flute” as I would call it… What is this thing!?
I did sell 16 of these whistles for $1150 - I still have 8-11 left, but don’t know what to do with them. I guess ebay is likely my answer there too, huh?
Do you think the Copeland Low D I have is worth ending and relisting as “Open to International Buyers” ? What do you suspect it is worth? Thanks guys!!!
Looks like a pre-euro R.o.I. 20p coin glued to the end of a flute. 20p Irish is worth about 25 euro cent. Not at all rare. You can find scads of pre-euro / post-decimal Irish coins on Ebay for very little cost.
I did sell 16 of these whistles for $1150 - I still have 8-11 left, but don’t know what to do with them. I guess ebay is likely my answer there too, huh?
Generally works pretty well!
Do you think the Copeland Low D I have is worth ending and relisting as “Open to International Buyers” ?
No – just add the information to the end of the present auction. I would, however, urge you to strenuously avoid Ebay’s international shipping option. They will just throw your item into a box without any kind of padding and without any kind of secure tape job. Very easy to lose that way! And it’s also more expensive than you can do bu just going to the post office. You should be able to bubble wrap it securely and put it in a strong mailing tube and tape it all up for around ten dollars. I would insure the hell out of it though! Nothing worse than a $600 whistle being “lost in the mail”! And boy, do I know that feeling when the idiot only insured the thing for the $50 minimum! Talk about livid! But at least you can rest assured – Ebay and Paypal will do absolutely nothing for the aggrieved buyer, contrary to their claims about their buyer “protection” plan! So you wouldn’t be out any money at all even if it did get lost.
What do you suspect it is worth? Thanks guys!!!
It will be worth whatever your high bidder is willing to pay for it! As with all things of this sort. I have watched Copeland whistles for several years. Low Ds can sell anywhere from $400 to $1200 depending on who’s looking for one, how many are looking for one, and how badly they want one! You do have in your favor that they do not come on the market frequently. Mr Copeland is still making a few high d whistles, and they trickle through Ebay every now and then, and the name is still something of a ‘magic word’.
Sixstringthing, congrats first of all on a great estate sale find. You mention that you have 8-11 whistles left; do you know what they are, and when you might be putting them up for bid/auction?
Turns out I found a few more instruments again tonight… Any help in identifying one or all of them for me would be great.
I know of the Sindt D whistle, but have no idea what the others are. The silver one has a nice mouth piece and says T 211 W on a stamp on the backside. The Flute with C foot (I think thats what it is anyways) has no markings and came in the case it’s resting on. As far as the fat wooden thing… you’re guess is better than mine. Thanks for commenting!
- NEWBIE
