The title says it all really.

A few months ago I bought an approx 100 year old French violin. I took it to a violin shop to have it checked out and they said it was worth twice what I paid. 2 people at the shop independently valued it as such, so I arranged insurance for that amount.

Sometime later, a very experienced player told me that the people at this shop are not very expert with old or more valuable instruments. I dont know if that is a fair assessment or not, but it was his opinion.

Since then I've had another violin shop tell me that its replacement cost would actually be 4 times what I paid for it.

The person who said it was worth 4 times what I paid pointed to its immaculate condition, good age, no cracks, no defects at all. In truth I find it hard to believe it would be worth that much, but he maintained that the older instruments in that good condition fetch high prices.

I know where the violin was made, whose workshop it came from. I've seen a few sold online. The lowest price was similar to what I paid, but I also found some selling for 3 or 4 times what I paid, so thats not very helpful.

So who do I believe and is there any way to get a definitive answer ? I have no interest in selling it; I love it too much. My interest here is solely to ensure I have it adequately insured.
thanks

you also have to look VERY CAREFULLY at the small print of your insurance, some say that an insurance valution/certificate from a reputable shop is the 'appropriate thing to have' bu they only require it if the instrument is valued at £5,000 or more (this is the insurance I am with by the way which is Allianz), some want it if it's £10,000 or more, some want it full stop.

If a certificate of valuation is not needed (like in my case) then insure it to the price you honestly think will cost you to get an equivalent if yours was sadly lost in say a fire!

I had to make this 'difficult' decision myself as was in a similar situation to yours and I have settled on a price I believe was average to what most were telling me and it was a price good enough to buy something pretty similar if mine was 'destroyed' or stolen!

If a certificate is needed most reputable shops might charge around £30 to give you one (it will be well written out with pictures of the instrument), if not needed most shops will give you a quick quotation (like I believe the ones you got) in the latter case then I'd pick the average of those verbal valuation?

Actually, that's a very good point Jojo and one I hadnt considered. I'm with Allianz too and being valued at less than £5k I should be OK but it would be wise to get something in writing..

There is an older, more established violin shop that I could travel to and perhaps get them to issue a proper valuation cert. Thank you

If you can, go to a valuer/shop that act as agents for your insurer. If you are not sure, ask, but they will usually have a certificate on the wall. Or ring your insurer and they will give you a list in your area. It means they are trusted by the insurer to make an informed valuation, and also you won't neccessarily need a certificate for over the certain amount. If your violin is labelled and valuable, you may want to get a certificate of authentication from the valuer to say it really is what is says it is.
Valuations can fluctuate dramatically due to condition, restorations, repairs, former damage etc. Typically not much to do with tone and other musical importances to us players

As miffy has said, the value will be reflected in the condition of the instrument. When I have violins valued, I go to a well known luthier, who knows his stuff and they have what they call `the violin bible` which has almost every thing in it. If you know when, and where it was made and you have a date, you need to have that verified by someone who has no vested interest in the instrument and who really knows what they are talking about.
Violins of any value need to be assessed by luthiers and not just the local music shop. (I used to own one). Anything I suspected was of value, I took to someone who knew more than me. Not that I`m suggesting thats what you did. Then you will get a fairer idea of what the value actually is.

Can you tell us what it says on the label?

Thanks for those comments Miffy & Chickenlicken. Good point actually about getting someone like that to value it. Thanks for the tip:)

In the great scheme of things its not a valuable violin, but it would be good to know what to insure it for.

DiscoPants its a Medio Fino from the JTL workshop. They were considered the entry level model at the time, but are apparently well respected these days for their tone.

Age is approx 100 years. What do you think?

I think you need to get it valued. The problem with Medio Fino violins is that there is a huge variation in quality and value between the various grades. The entry level ones are fairly awful, but the better ones can be really nice and worth a fair amount of money. It sounds like you've got one of the latter. Well done!
The problem is though, that if you just declare it to the insurance company as a Medio Fino, and the only evidence of value you have is the receipt from when you bought it, they are unlikely to believe that it's worth more. Any busy, well established specialist violin dealer (and it should be a dealer, not a luthier, unless they happen to be both) will have had many of these instruments through their doors over the years, and will be able to give you a realistic insurance valuation for a relatively modest cost. Don't get too excited by the valuation though: there's a big difference between getting an insurance valuation for a certain amount and actually being able to sell the violin for that figure!

Thank you Discopants for that advice. I wasnt aware there was such a variance between individual Medio Fino's so I'll get it valued by a specialist dealer. Would you happen to know a good dealer in the south west? I've found a couple on line but I know nothing about them.

To be honest, the value itself is not important to me. I bought it because I loved how it sounded and I have no intention of selling it. Its a far better violin than I am a player and it will be years before I can bring out the best of it.

This has been really helpful; thanks for all the advice.

Depending where in the South West you are, Bristol Violin Shop, just opposite the Children's Hospital, would do the job. Ask for Nick or Neil, the two owners. I worked there a few years ago and still trust them with all my instruments. And, as Discopants says, a lot of JTL Medio Finos come through the door every week!

Thanks KTViola for that tip