Old Hickory Mandolin - collector's item?

[Brooke Caldwell]

I had a friend's dad tell me that serial numbers under 100 are more valuable, and he thinks my little OH, serial #12 (style MIN), is a collector's item. I've heard OH mandolins are just a name they put on a generic mando in china or something... I paid $60 for her in the boneyard of a store in Nashville because she was missing the cover of the tailpiece and a few strings. No truss rod, nothing fancy. So, what gives? What is it worth? And, just as important, am I going to devalue her when I start painting sunflowers on her? For $60 I was thinking it was fair game, but not if it is actually some sort of collectible.

Oh, and I named her Temperance. :)

Thanks!
Brooke

[allenhopkins]

Old Hickory is a brand of Asian import mandolins. From the (pretty sketchy) research I've done, appears that Old Hickory sells about the cheapest solid top mandolin you can get, that quality varies widely from instrument to instrument, that with a decent set-up one can coax music from one. Not much else.

Here's a quote from one of the reviews of an F-style model:
It says "Made in China", but the inside sticker says "Nashville TN". If they have an American importer, I still probably wouldn't deal with them... this is just a cheap throwaway Mandolin, after all.

I'd be very surprised if, whatever the serial number, there were any potential collector value in an Old Hickory mandolin. I'd paint sunflowers on it, were I inclined toward floral art. Old Hickory mandolins seem to go for $200 or less brand new, so a $60 price for yours is probably fair.

[Brooke Caldwell]

Thanks, Allen. This one isn't even a solid top! It's a laminate, I can see that very clearly in the f-holes - there are definitely 3 layers. Maybe she'll be worth more as "functional art" when I'm finished. :)

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

[Brooke Caldwell]

I neglected to even mention that it's an A style. It's the one in my avatar. Just adding that for future inquiry. :)

[mandroid]

make it so a mortal can play it and that would be good enough ..

not all musical instruments need be valuable to make music on them , the music has value, if you enjoy it .

People sold weirder stuff as 'Collectors items' , example : beanie babies..