Jay, >>I was caught by surprise as I interpreted the serial number in the >>Pierce Atlas as 1908. >>Here is what Pierce reads:......snip> >>I have always interpreted this as " by the end of 1907, Story & Clark >>(and all other manufacturers) produced 21,400 pianos." I believe that somewhere buried in Pierce there is a caveat to the effect that some numbers provided indicate the _first_ # of the year, and some mfgrs provided the _last_ one. With that in mind I usually give a range of years in which the thing might have been built. With a nonagenarian, what big difference does one year make anyway? ;-} There _may_ be a casting date on the plate which the other tuner took as the mfg date if no Pierce was on hand that day. It certainly would not have been made before then, but it could have been considerably later by the time the plate was put in a case. There may also be a date penciled on the action. Again, could not have been built before, and possibly considerably after. So... 1906, 1907, 1908 could _all_ be right, sort of. Conrad Hoffsommer - Music Technician mailto:hoffsoco@luther.edu Luther College (319)-387-1204 Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045 "I'm glad you enjoyed the tuning. Now I hope you enjoy the playing more." - Ravi Shankar
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