Despite this, the wooden case itself is structurally sound. The leather wrap on the case's exterior is very old and brittle (as would be expected). One arm is spring loaded, which allows the cornet to be secured and removed with a quick motion.) (if you can't tell from the photos, the clip is the two wooden arms that secure the cornet in place within the case. I was happily suprised to see it in working condition. The cornet clip is an old design that I don't see anymore in new cases (due to more pragmatic designs). The latches also appear to be original, and are fully functional (in decent shape relative to the age). The interior and exterior appear to be original. Both pieces of the lyre are completely functional and in good repair structurally and aesthetically. The lyre and lyre clip are stock originals based solely on the design, print, and apparent age. 3 of the 4 original slides are in the case, held in by the original leather straps. The serial number on this Holton is #8151 This dates the horn's manufacturing date to late 1909 or early 1910.Īs seen in the photos, this cornet comes with a second set of slides made to alter the pitch of the horn. They exclusively affect the horn's aesthetic value and have no affect upon the the cornet's tonal quality or ease of playability. There are very few dings, dents, and scratches in the horn. The cornet has great valve compression, and the pistons move suprisingly well. The fact that it still retains ~99% of its silver plating is a miracle by itself.

The cornet itself is in fantastic condition. There is a lot of cool stuff in this listing, so I'll just start from the top. Up for sale is a vintage Frank Holton 'New Proportion' cornet.

Holton trumpet serial number list