As many specialists know, in the piano field, aside from being industry leading instruments as far as quality goes, Steinway Pianos are aslo excellent investments.

Yesterday on our Twitter, we linked to an article on Steinway Pianos as a spectacular investment. But, after a little more of my own digging today, the source material on Steinways as an investment is remarkably outdated.

Bloomberg business week spelled out the advantage of buying Steinway pianos over other brands very well.

Of course, Steinway insists its pianos are wholly worth the steep cost. The meticulous manufacturing process creates both impossibly perfect instruments and a scarcity (4,000 made per year) that drive up prices. So if you pass on a Steinway for its sound quality and aesthetic beauty, you may want to consider one for its investment value.

If you bought a 9-foot concert grand Steinway in 1975 for $25,000, for instance, it would sell for more than $100,000 today, says Leo Spellman, senior director of communications at Steinway & Sons. The very oldest Steinways command as much as 13 times their original price, and many are still in good condition—the durability of the instruments makes them very hard to damage.

But, an even surer investment than New Steinway pianos are used ones. It’s an obvious fact that a Grand purchased for $35,000 in 2000 would probably not reach a greater value in 2010. But, after reviewing our own records and gathering information from some other companies in our field, if someone was to buy a Steinway for $30,000 in 2000, it could easily be worth $40,000 today. We sold fully restored Steinway Grand pianos in 1995 for between $15,000 – $20,000 and our average sales today are $35,000 – $40,000. The real strength of Steinways as an investment is in used or restored pianos.