Musical instrument serial numbers are interesting.

[bloke]

It's always interesting to know when something was manufactured.
It might also be interesting to know who previously owned it.
Further, it's really good to know whether something has been stolen, and whether something should be returned to its rightful owner.

To clarify, I like knowing such things (manufacturing year, more than provenance...but that's just me) about my own wind instruments.

Those things having been said, wind musical instruments' values (at least, in my view - and when I'm considering purchases) are far more based on

- playing characteristics
- condition
- craftsmanship

...than age.

ex:
A York 6/4 tuba with multiple spider cracks in the bell and leaky valves (even if four-valve front-action) is probably just about worth nothing to me (personally - perhaps more to others...??) - UNLESS I happen to need a York 6/4-size top bow or bottom bow.

Wind musical instruments are not motor vehicles, and do not automatically devalue as years tick by.

Guitars (and some other types of instruments) can sometimes be attractive to collectors - whether-or-not those collectors plan to actually play them.
I see less of this tendency (as well as less of a tendency to collect - simply to own) with wind instruments.

Others' views on this will differ.

[DonO.]

Yes indeed. They are interesting. I was involved for sometime in guitar collecting. There is a large contingent of guitar collectors who are not really interested in playing them but instead are intrigued by history, provenance, rarity, aesthetic considerations, and so forth. I’m not so much involved now after having downsized considerably, but serial numbers are quite significant in that realm as well as such esoterica as things that may have been penciled inside at the factory and originality of the finish, hardware, and electronics. As you have noted, I have never heard of anyone collecting wind instruments in a similar manner with the exception of Vince Simonetti.

[bloke]

Some of those instruments (in the tuba collection) are curiosities/goofballs/obsolete/issues-laden/seriously-worn/etc. - and are probably serving their best purposes hung up by wires for viewing, but others are viable instruments - that (though they are private property, which defines that I can only have an opinion - and nothing more) would probably be of more benefit in the ownership of (ie. "sold to at market value to") those who would regularly make good use of them, while also caring-for/maintaining them. (I also tend to wonder how many of the tuning slides - on the viable instruments in that collection - are now seriously seized/frozen, due to never being moved and never being re-lubricated.)

All of that having been said, my own personal views on (some) museums' management possibly shade my opinions.

[DonO.]

Yes, the criteria for accumulating/collecting wind instruments almost always seems to be utility. Can I put this to good use? Especially tubas, which have space demands. One might have an orchestra horn, band horn, ensemble horn, solo horn, back up “Swiss Army Knife” horn, maybe a Sousaphone or helicon if you do those sorts of gigs, but aside from that it becomes hard to justify any more than that. Would any of us keep a tuba around simply because we like the way it looks, without playing it? On the other hand, again going back to the guitar world, this weekend our local music store is liquidating a collection. This person had over 100 basses and guitars along with amplifiers, cabinets, and miscellaneous accessories. It’s hard for me to imagine someone actually playing all of those. Just keeping up with string changes, tuning, and other maintenance would be a major chore. Seems like there would be little time left for playing them.

[bloke]

Some know that - occasionally, over the last decades - I've assembled (as I consider it presumptuous to use the word "built", as I personally fabricated very few of the parts) a handful tubas for my own use.

Though I would rate four of them as "remarkably fine" if not (perhaps) "somewhat special", I only currently own TWO of those four...
My wife even tried to insist that I not sell off the other two, but (as I'm neither a museum nor a collector, and - though my ego may be inflated - my ego is not so inflated as to believe that "only I" am "worthy" of owning such "treasures" ), I've sold (albeit not for low prices) two of the four.

[Shadowheart]

Absolutely, musical instrument serial numbers can unveil intriguing stories. They hold clues about the instrument's past, ownership, and even potential journeys. It's like a window into history, connecting us to the people who played it before.

[jtm]

I have two West German tubas with no serial numbers. One, from the '80s (after S-links, anyway), is a Mirafone. The other seems a little older (S-links were replaced by someone along the way, so I don't know what the original keys and springs were like). Seems a little surprising for German makers.

I'd like to know more about when they were made and how they got to Texas, but I'll just live with the mystery.