Newbie with accordion.

[George Fort Lauderdale]

Way back in the '60s, I was gifted an accordion. Not long after, it became clear I didn't have an ear for music. Now, here we are in 2024 and I still have the accordion. It hasn't been played in probably over 50 years. It is a Royal Standard but I'm not sure of its age or anything else. I've attached some pics. I'd like to come up with a better, much more detailed description and then some suggestions regarding a valuation as I do plan to sell it at some point.

All comments and assistance are greatly appreciated.

 

[Dingo40]

Welcome George!.
It appears to be a possibly 1960s beginners/amateurs model made in East Germany under the label Royal Standard, equivalent to the Weltmeister of the day, both of which were possibly a bit better than the Chinese Bailie of the 1970s.
It has 41 treble keys and 120 bass buttons and would easily suit a beginner, busker or amateur.
It has rather a "boastful " number of coupler switches, having only two treble voices and probably two bass voices , some of the couplers being repeats for effect
As to price, it's kind of a buyer's market. In good playable order, perhaps $200 to $300?
Nice colour and cosmetic condition.

 

[George Fort Lauderdale]

Welcome George!.
It appears to be a possibility 1960s beginners/amateurs model made in East Germany under the label Royal Standard, equivalent to the Weltmeister of the day, both of which were possibly a bit better than the Chinese Bailie of the 1970s.
It has 41 treble keys and 120 bass buttons and would easily suit a beginner, busker or amateur.
It has rather a "boastful " number of coupler switches, having only two treble voices and probably two bass voices , some of the couplers being repeats for effect
As to price, it's kind of a buyer's market. In good playable order, perhaps $200 to $300?
Nice colour and cosmetic condition.

Thanks for all this great information.

 

[Valski]

It appears to be a possibly 1960s beginners/amateurs model made in East Germany

The accordion wasn't worth a lot of money when new and Dingo's correct as to its value. One thing that I don't see are shoulder straps which are key to this being a playable instrument. If there are no straps you need to spend at least another $100 for a set so that will need to be deducted from the asking price.

 

[George Fort Lauderdale]

It appears to be a possibly 1960s beginners/amateurs model made in East Germany

The accordion wasn't worth a lot of money when new and Dingo's correct as to its value. One thing that I don't see are shoulder straps which are key to this being a playable instrument. If there are no straps you need to spend at least another $100 for a set so that will need to be deducted from the asking price.

Thank you too for responding. I do have the straps. Maybe a little ironic, the straps are worth up to 50% of the instrument itself!

 

[Ben-jammin]

In my view 60 year old straps likely aren’t worth much of anything. Leather becomes brittle and subject to break when it gets that age.

 

[Scuromondo]

Thank you too for responding. I do have the straps. Maybe a little ironic, the straps are worth up to 50% of the instrument itself!

One can easily pay more than $100 for a good set of new accordion straps. But in fairness, for an accordion this size and age, you should easily be able to find adequate straps for more like $30-40, or even less for used straps in good condition. However, before buying anything you probably want to decide whether you are planning to sell it, or to play it. If you are planning to sell it, you might not want to invest $30 in it until you find out what other internal repairs it might need. After 60 years on the shelf, it may well require repairs costing more (perhaps considerably more) than its resale price.

 

[George Fort Lauderdale]

I've decided, based on the perceived value and the cost of making it serviceable, that I will donate it, as is.