Do you know your serial numbers?

[PhonoJack]

Hi Friends,

You just returned home after a short visit to look at yet another machine. When you enter your home, you see that your back door is wide open and you immediately feel something is wrong, seriously wrong. Your mind races, you think, where is that particular horn or machine that greets you as you enter the door. It begins to sink in so deeply you feel it in the pit of your stomach, you have been robbed. You are hit with a hot-flash of fear! You think, impossible, not in this neighborhood, not these machines, they are too heavy, not me. No, it's not a nightmare. You dial the police.

Upon arrival, the police ask, can you identify what's missing. Do you have photos of your inventory? You need to take photos on a regular basis, your insurance company may ask for these photos. The police ask:

Do you have the serial numbers for each of your machines?

Well, do ya?

PhonoJack

Sorry, this is a terrible thought.

[Zeppy]

Hi Friends,

You just returned home after a short visit to look at yet another machine. When you enter your home, you see that your back door is wide open and you immediately feel something is wrong, seriously wrong. Your mind races, you think, where is that particular horn or machine that greets you as you enter the door. It begins to sink in so deeply you feel it in the pit of your stomach, you have been robbed. You are hit with a hot-flash of fear! You think, impossible, not in this neighborhood, not these machines, they are too heavy, not me. No, it's not a nightmare. You dial the police.

Upon arrival, the police ask, can you identify what's missing. Do you have photos of your inventory? You need to take photos on a regular basis, your insurance company may ask for these photos. The police ask:

Do you have the serial numbers for each of your machines?

Well, do ya?

PhonoJack

Sorry, this is a terrible thought.

Sadly (or fortunately), most the only reason I have a record of any of my serial numbers is because I posted pictures of the machines here....which I suppose is at least some record.

[gramophoneshane]

You'd be mad if you didn't, and crazy to tell people if you don't

Not only should you keep a record of the serial number's, but you should take LOTS of good clear photo's of each machine in your collection. As ID tags can be changed, it's always helpful to have picture's of any scratches on the cabinet, wear on the metalwork or decals etc. All these things can be very helpful in the "positive ID" of a machine, in case the worst should happen.
It's also a good idea to copy the pictures to a couple CD disc's, and leave a copy at a family or friends house. It's a good back-up in case the disc's too are stolen or lost, or in case of a fire.
You can also buy pens that only show up under UV light, so it's a good idea to use them somewhere on the interior of the cabinet, but not just under the motor board in case the machine is parted out.
The more details & pictures you have, the easier it will be dealing with the insurance company too.

[Zeppy]

Part of me finds it unlikely that most of my machines would get stolen. Besides most theives not being savy enough to know the value of a phonograph (I'm guessing the flat screen TV on the wall would be more appealing), but the idea of a theif crusing down the street with a VV-XVI on his back (or a Credenza) seems vaguely amusing.


However, that doesn't mean there isn't good reason to keep track of serial numbers and pictures for insurance reasons...I think the bigger risk is the possiblity of damage due to water of fire.

[richardh]

Must admit that when I picked up my 1931 HMV radiogram from the repairers I didn't even both to lock the car doors when I went back into the shop for 10 minutes. Even though the machine was in full view I would have been surprised to come back to find it gone...after all it took two of us to lift it into the car in the first place. Also I didn't think an 80 year old radiogram would be particulalry desirable apart to a small collecting community!

RJ

[Steve]

Assuming the alarm system (wired to the local police station) doesn't scare them off, hopefully the electric doors should get them or the trip wires which activate the pneumatic darts firing a tranquilizer into the assailant. If all that fails, hopefully the neighbour (who will be awakened by the alarm and sleeps during the day) will shoot the legs off the assailants following my strict "Shoot first, ask questions later" policy should he ever be awoken during the day.

Oh, did I mention the pack of hungry rottweilers waiting by the fence?

If all that fails, and they do make off with my collection, I have a CD with fully documented evidence of my entire collection and approved written valuations that I shall resort to in order to deal with the insurance.

But as a dealer once remarked when he was asked to provide valuations for insurance, the average burglar is far more likely and interested in stealing the car from your drive / garage, than what appears to be a load of old junk, he wouldn't even understand hidden away inside your home.

I take the point about fire and flood seriously though. I've got my collection insured separately from everything else and insisted that it all needs to be covered for every eventuality including even me being half-cut one night and knocking something over!

[Zeppy]

Assuming the alarm system (wired to the local police station) doesn't scare them off, hopefully the electric doors should get them or the trip wires which activate the pneumatic darts firing a tranquilizer into the assailant. If all that fails, hopefully the neighbour (who will be awakened by the alarm and sleeps during the day) will shoot the legs off the assailants following my strict "Shoot first, ask questions later" policy should he ever be awoken during the day.

If that fails, and they make off with my collection, I have a CD with fully documented evidence of my entire collection and approved written valuations that I shall resort to in order to deal with the insurance.

But as a dealer once remarked when he was asked to provide valuations for insurance, the average burglar is far more likely and interested in stealing the car from your drive / garage, than what appears to be a load of old junk, he wouldn't understand hidden and tucked away inside our home.

I take the point about fire and flood seriously though. I've got my collection insured separately from everything else and insisted that it all needs to be covered for every eventuality including me being half-cut one night and knocking something over!

and here I though I was being careful by having ADT (compromise I made with an ex...got rid of the guns, she paid to install a monitored alarm system).

but I agree. There's plenty more that would catch the interstest of a theif before they made off with a phonograph. They'd swipe the $50 DVD player before anything of value (if he chould even make off with that...again, ADT is fun...except when the cats set off the alarm, and you get stuck trying to convice the police that they really should waive the false alarm fee). It's far more important to have this info for fire/flood damage insurance. Again, what theif going going to try make off with a piece of furniture weighing a couple hundred pounds (particularly while an alarm is going off, and in the 5 minutes it takes for the police to show)?

[USlakeside]

Are you guys so sure?
http://www.findstolenart.com/Search.asp ... &sr=0&st=0

[USlakeside]

They were a hot item!

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.h ... 94689ED7CF

[gramophoneshane]

Are you guys so sure?
http://www.findstolenart.com/Search.asp ... &sr=0&st=0

It just goes to show it's not always the high end machines that get targeted.
A house I was renting years ago was broken into, and along with the TV Stereo, hundreds of CD's, cash etc, my first cylinder machine- an Edison Standard A was taken. There was also a home with a large horn, and lots of other machines they could have taken, but this was small & convenient to carry.
I guess if you're dumb enough to break into peoples houses, you're probably also dumb enough to think such a machine is worth $1,000,000.
Luckily I was insured, and had pictures of the machine & a record of the serial number, although the machine still hasn't been recovered after 12 or so yrs I guess the ID was changed, it's sitting in some newbie collectors collection, or is at the bottom of the Brisbane river!