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Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Hotel Del Coronado

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Martin Style 3-K Ukulele, ca. 1930

Value (2012) | $3,000 Retail – $3,500 Retail
Watch  

APPRAISER:
As soon as I saw this case walk in, I said, "It's a Martin uke."

GUEST:
You knew!

APPRAISER:
Usually higher grade ukes wound up in these nice hard cases. Tell me how you got the uke.

GUEST:
My dad was a bluegrass musician, who was also an inveterate yardsaler. And he picked this up probably about 18 or 20 years ago for less than $10.

APPRAISER:
Oh, not bad.

GUEST:
And when he passed away, he left all of his instruments to me. And this was among those, and I think it's one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

APPRAISER:
It's just perfect. It's like a miniature beautiful Martin guitar.

GUEST:
Exactly, exactly.

APPRAISER:
And that was the thing about Martin ukes. It's not like these asymmetrical, kind of funky-looking Hawaiian ukes. They are perfect objects. And this one is nicely appointed with multiple bindings, and little celluloid ornament, celluloid strip down the fingerboard. And what makes it a higher end Martin uke is that it's got an ebony fingerboard that goes all the way down to the sound hole, instead of these short rosewood fingerboards the lower-end models have. The cheapest model was called a Style O. And the Style O had no bindings, the Style 1 had dark bindings, usually rosewood and then later plastic. And the Style 2 had white binding. And this is a Style 3.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
And to make it even better, this is a Style 3-K, which means it's a Style 3 koa wood model. So they made them both in mahogany and koa. And it's nice because it has not just plain looking koa. You see all this nice figure to it?

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
See it both in the front and in the back, this nice horizontal flame, which if you cleaned this a little bit would be a little bit more prominent. And the metal friction pegs that they started using in the late '20s. So I'm going to think that period-wise, this is just getting into 1930 or maybe the very early '30s. And that's the original hard case. So a 3-M or 3 mahogany model would be worth about $2,000 to $2,500.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
Okay?

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
So a koa wood model, I would suggest a retail value of at least another $1,000.

GUEST:
Really?

APPRAISER:
So $3,000. Maybe $3,500. If this had been a couple years back, when ukes were a little bit more sought after, the market might have supported even $4,500.

GUEST:
Oh, my goodness. This is awesome. He would be so excited.

APPRAISER:
Great, are you going to play it?

GUEST:
Absolutely. Of course I will.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Frederick Oster
Musical Instruments
Vintage Instruments, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
Appraised value (2012)
$3,000 Retail – $3,500 Retail
Featured In
Cincinnati, Hour 3 (#1712)
Event
Cincinnati, OH (July 21, 2012)
Category
Musical Instruments
Period
20th Century
Form
Ukulele
Material
Celluloid , Ebony , Koa Wood , Metal , Steel , Wood

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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