http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Michael-Co ... SwE0JY-nf4

I've never heard of such a beast. I've been around a long time, but there are others that have been around much longer. Did Copeland make non-tunable whistles in his early career? The "Copeland" font on the whistle is different than the models I'm familiar with as well. The seller doesn't provide any good pics of the side of the whistle, but from what I can see, it doesn't have the characteristic pins used to hold the fipple block in place.

The labium ramp construction and hole sizing/spacing look similar to Copeland's I'm familiar with, but that proves nothing.

I don't think Copeland ever made an aluminum whistle, but he did make some out of silver.

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│& ¼║: ♪♪♫♪ ♫♪♫♪ :║

It looks genuine to me. I have an early nickel Copeland with the same Philadelphia/Shamrock stamp. And, although mine is tunable, I do believe I recall seeing several over the years that were not.

This one looks to be very early indeed, and I do see what MAY be a significant misalignment if the labium on one side, but this could just be an optical illusion from the way the whistle was photographed. Could be a great piece of whistle history for someone, but may or may not need some attention to play at its best, that said, I have a high confidence that it is legit.

Didn't see anything about what the whistle is made from so sent message to the seller.

Loren: my interpretation of the photos is that what you are seeing as a possible defect in the labium is really an artifact of the lighting and reflections. At least that's what I'm seeing through my tri-focals.

Best wishes.

Steve

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"[Some flutists] place the flute between the upper lip and the nose, blowing the instrument from below. This position does not prevent good playing, but it does not look graceful."
~ Antoine Mahaut, 1759 in a tutor for playing the transverse flute ~

You could certainly be correct Steve, I just can't tell either way for sure. Doesn't help that I looked at on my phone.

Thanks Loren..that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I didn't wanna start hunting in the basement for my pitchfork without some corroboration

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│& ¼║: ♪♪♫♪ ♫♪♫♪ :║

Heard back from the seller, "It is made on nickel."

A bit more information....

Best wishes.

Steve

_________________
"[Some flutists] place the flute between the upper lip and the nose, blowing the instrument from below. This position does not prevent good playing, but it does not look graceful."
~ Antoine Mahaut, 1759 in a tutor for playing the transverse flute ~