Steinway & Sons - Steinway Pianos - Eight Keys to Remember - Key No. 4

Key No. 4 - Investment

A Noteworthy Return Right from the Start

An investment is a possession acquired for future benefit, with the expectation it will increase in value.

Once you judge a piano from this perspective, the field is dramatically narrowed. Because Steinway & Sons is the only major piano maker in the world creating instruments of true investment quality.

Invest in a new Steinway and the return you enjoy in musical perfection is limitless. Its appreciation in monetary value, moreover, is not only predictable but very satisfying.

Forbes magazine calculated that over a ten year period the retail value of a Steinway concert grand increased by 200%. Steinways built between 1929 and 1958 now sell for 5.8 times their original prices, while those built from l959 to 1978 are selling for 2.8 times their original value.

Indeed, few things in life — including fine paintings and classic cars — compete with the investment performance of a Steinway piano.

Other piano makers would prefer you not judge their instruments against a benchmark of value. Because the comparison invariably proves a Steinway is, over time, the least expensive piano anyone can buy.

"Steinway Piano Sold at $390,000. A Record."
"The Steinway grand piano that reigned for a half-century in the upstairs lounge of the Martin Beck Theatre on West 45th Street in New York City, was sold at auction to a New York investment banker for $390,000 — the highest price ever paid for a musical instrument or for any piece of 19th century furniture."

— The New York Times March 27, 1980.

(Note: This piano was later sold to a private museum for $1.2 million.)