Posted by Johannes Mahonius on February 27, 2004 at 19:00:29:
In Reply to: Guarnerius Violin posted by Ned on February 13, 2004 at 22:03:51:
Hey don't mind the fancy name I was just kidding around. (I am Irish and not Italian)
I think you have a copy, and I am not sure of much else. You may have paid a little much but not too bad. It depends on how it sounds and all those factors. If it is well set up and ready to play then that is worth something too!
If it were a real Guarnieri it would probably be very fancy as well.
I wish I had some URL's handy so you could see pictures of a real Guarnieri. I will try and post some links if I have time.
Some copies are worth a lot (in the thousands) and some are more like student/intermediate kind of violins. (500$ or so and up)
The label does not mean a lot unless it is an authentic Original, and the spelling would be different perhaps. See some other posts here as your question is probably already answered.
Take it to you local Luthier to find out thier opinion is my recommendation.
See my post above about the label I have.
Johannes (Italiano for John, (I think))
: Recently I bought a violin with the inscription:
: Joseph Guarnerius fecit
: Cremona Anno 17__**this space appears to have been scratched off
: to the right of this inscription are two crossed lines, simalar to a compass rose, and slightly illegible letters that appear as IIIS, IHS, or HHS
: If you have any information at all about whether or not this piece is authentic, the scratched off date, etc, then please e-mail me.
: Also, I should admit that while I have by no means authoritative knowledge on the subject, I would assume that 700 euros (what i bought it for) is a bit inexpensive for a 300 year old violin. Then again, with my knowledge, it might have been a rip off.