This is a Crabb 12-Key Miniature English. It has had new valves, and is tuned to concert pitch (A=440hz). The serial number is 17159.

Miniture concertinas always come with a level of novelty and rarity, but a fairly large number of them aren’t too practical as actual playing instruments. This is a higher-quality miniature, and is an exception to that rule. It is a loud and bright player, with a very punchy tone. Unlike a lot of miniatures, it can be played without having to use a tremolo style (with good bellows control), which makes it way more practical than other alternatives.

Miniatures generally might not be the most useful things, but they’re delightful instruments, and this is one you could have in your collection that you can actually get a proper tune out of.

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