The Reader replied:
Here are a few photos of the autoharp.
Thank you
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[Unfortunately, I lost the photos of this reader's autoharp. I have included two photos of R.S. Williams and Son Autoharps, sometimes called REX because that was the model name on the label.
The beautiful part of this autoharp was the arrangement of the buttons so it was easy to find the chords in any of the keys it played in. In addition, the chord bar cover listed all the notes in the chord, which is a nicety that the early Zimmerman messed up by numbering the notes oddly instead of just naming them, and which no USA or Asian autoharps since have even attempted.
One photo is of a restored autoharp. One photo is of the chord bar cover of an old one I saw some time back. Sorry again about losing this reader's photos. Long story. ]
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Your autoharp is in much better condition than the last Williams and Sons autoharp I saw.
Sadly, the only other Williams and Sons autoharp I saw sold for about $11 on auction, but it was in bad shape, and I'm sure nobody knew what it was.
If yours can be tuned and played, it might be worth $100 or so (US) to an autoharp player looking for something "different." To a real autoharp fan or collector, it might be worth more. It's a part of Canadian History that doesn't show up very often. R.S. Williams and Son(s) sold many kinds of musical instruments, including mandolins and pianos, but this may be the most unique instrument they sold. NOBODY else made autoharps with the buttons arranged this way. It might belong in a museum. Maybe the Royal Ontario Museum:
https://www.rom.on.ca/en/blog/origins-o ... nstrumentsAgain, so few of them have survived and so few of them change hands, I can't say specifically what yours is worth. It's a collector's item but unfortunately there aren't many autoharp collectors, so you may have trouble finding a buyer who's willing to pay you what it's worth on a collectibles scale.
Hope this makes sense. Thanks again for the photos.
Have a great day,
- Paul