The question about the flute clock barrel throws up an interesting
conundrum. The barrel is extremely rare, however this does not mean
that it has a high value.
In the 'olden days' when barrel instruments were made by hundreds of
different makers, and each maker had a variety of designs and sizes of
organ, each barrel was made for its own organ and it would be rare for
any interchangeability to be considered. Barrels that look identical
at first may have minor differences of scale, number of tunes and
register keys.
So the answer to the question, how much is it worth? If you can find
the person who owns the original instrument that used this barrel and
he is desperate for more tunes, the sky's the limit. If you can't,
the value is zero. Of these two options, the first will most probably
never occur.
Nicholas Simons, GB
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