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Many thanks to all who responded. The interest in my father's collection was encouraging. Many of you suggested that Stanton's Auctions would probably be my best bet. I've contacted Mr. Stanton and have decided to let his organization handle this. It sounds like they'll probably be up for auction sometime around April.

Again, thanks everyone. I learned a quite a bit in a short period of time.

David

This is a great place to sell things. First, read the instructions for posting something in the Trader section and follow them. A photo is very helpful. A general location is also very nice. Jerry B.

Email sent with suggested tips on selling machines, either on this forum or in an auction

Bruce

Happy to help David and I hope you get what you anticipated for the collection!

Ray

As a Berliner collector, I thought I should mention the Berliner (hand wind) in this collection for sale is a Norm Solgas copy made in the 60's-70's. Here is the machine and also Mr. Solgas showing one in the background along with other rare models his Father and him made back in the day.

Not to suggest the seller is out to deceive anyone. Knowledge is king however..... .

I hope this saves a collector from offering big $$$$.

gramophone78 wrote:As a Berliner collector, I thought I should mention the Berliner (hand wind) in this collection for sale is a Norm Solgas copy made in the 60's-70's. Here is the machine and also Mr. Solgas showing one in the background along with other rare models his Father and him made back in the day.

Not to suggest the seller is out to deceive anyone. Knowledge is king however..... .

I hope this saves a collector from offering big $$$$.

16a.jpg

Norm Solgas.png

Wow, so all the machines in that picture are reproductions? He sure did a nice job on those, that phonautograph is especially interesting!
-I hope he identified his work as a reproduction somewhere on the item, when it looks that good it is bound to be confused as a real one at some point in time.

The Phonautograph in the picture came up for auction at Stanton's about 3 years ago and there was some confusion initially. Some people believed it to be authentic. But it soon became obvious that it couldn't be original since he had made the threads per inch far too tight for it to function as a Phonautograph, which uses a lateral 'stylus' (hog hair). Also, as luck would have it, the grain of the wood on the horn was very distinctive and matched precisely to a couple of era photos so that removed any lingering doubts.

Two of his Bergmann tinfoils have sold in recent years. Like the Phonautograph, they looked really good but they fail on a number of details.

I suspect that he made both by working from photographs, or in the case of the Phonautograph, engravings. He likely would have made them more accurately if he had originals to compare to.

The hand-wind Berliner does appear more accurate, he very likely did have an original to copy.

I remember seeing all of those machines the one time I visited his shop in 1976. They were pricey for the time.

Edit to add: none were marked as replicas.

TinfoilPhono wrote:The Phonautograph in the picture came up for auction at Stanton's about 3 years ago and there was some confusion initially. Some people believed it to be authentic. But it soon became obvious that it couldn't be original since he had made the threads per inch far too tight for it to function as a Phonautograph, which uses a lateral 'stylus' (hog hair). Also, as luck would have it, the grain of the wood on the horn was very distinctive and matched precisely to a couple of era photos so that removed any lingering doubts.

Two of his Bergmann tinfoils have sold in recent years. Like the Phonautograph, they looked really good but they fail on a number of details.

I suspect that he made both by working from photographs, or in the case of the Phonautograph, engravings. He likely would have made them more accurately if he had originals to compare to.

The hand-wind Berliner does appear more accurate, he very likely did have an original to copy.

I remember seeing all of those machines the one time I visited his shop in 1976. They were pricey for the time.

Edit to add: none were marked as replicas.

I have to agree with Rene. The Berliner appears more accurate. The untrained eye could be easily convinced it is indeed original. However, a seasoned collector can spot many issues.
Lets use mine as a comparison.