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1927 Bacon & Day "Silver Bell" Banjo-ukulele

Value (2017) | $2,500 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
It belonged to my grandfather on my dad's side of the family. My dad was the eldest and it was passed onto him at some point, and then I think my father thought that I might be musically inclined, as a child, and that's how I came into possession of it. And unfortunately, I've never learned to play it. I played on it when I was about five, but never knew how to play it.

APPRAISER:
It's a banjo ukulele. It was made in 1927, which was pretty much the peak of the ukulele craze.

GUEST:
All right.

APPRAISER:
And Bacon & Day, the company that made it, was one of the premier manufacturers of Jazz Age banjos during the 1920s and '30s. Bacon & Day was in Groton, Connecticut. A lot of people would say, "What's a ukulele banjo?" But it served a real purpose, because ukuleles are wonderful, but they're not very loud. So if you wanted to play a ukulele and you needed to be heard in an outdoor setting or with louder instruments, like horns or guitars and pianos and things, making it into a banjo was the perfect solution. This was a ukulele you could hear across the auditorium, not just across the room. This is one of the highest-quality ones. It's not highly decorated, but it's made just like their tenor Bacon & Day Silver Bell banjos, which were world-famous at the time. And it has all the same features that those Jazz Age four-string banjos had. So for instance, it has, inside the head, there's a special spun tone ring, which was their patented Silver Bell tone ring. And then the resonator flange, with the little F-hole-shaped...

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
Everything about it is scaled down to this ukulele size, so that instead of being a 12-inch head or 11-inch head with a larger resonator, everything was made in miniature. And it could be used with either gut strings or steel strings.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
Which was another advantage over ukuleles, which could only be strung with gut. This is a Number 3.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
So it's kind of in the middle of the range of the Silver Bell ukulele banjos that they did. But it's really professional-grade instrument. It was expensive at the time, and they're highly desirable now for people that take banjo ukulele seriously.

GUEST:
Huh!

APPRAISER:
And in a specialty shop that deals with vintage instruments of this type, it would fetch about $2,500.

GUEST:
That's surprising to me. I think I thought it might be around $500. But I never dreamed... it could be that much.

APPRAISER:
A big part of it is that all of its original parts are there, including the original hard shell case.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
So it has the original geared, geared tuners. And it doesn't seem like anything's been lost or altered in any way. It has some wear.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
But it's what we call honest wear.

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
That people expect to see.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Richard Johnston
Musical Instruments
Gryphon Stringed Instruments
Palo Alto, CA
Appraised value (2017)
$2,500 Retail
Featured In
Junk in the Trunk 8 (#2226)
Event
Portland, OR (August 12, 2017)
Category
Musical Instruments
Period
20th Century
Form
Banjo , Musical Instrument , Ukulele

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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