Of course, resale value in USA may be lower without the perceived prestige of open holes and low B. But if you are not selling......

I think we`re going to go with a closed hole
flute and get a Yamaha YFL-421. Closed hole,
C-foot, offset G, silver head, body and foot. Thanks 4 all of the advice.

YFL-411 may be worth considering. It is the same as 421 but with a split E, which makes third octave E considerably easier to play, especially for a less serious player, and especially slurring to or from one of the adjacent `A`s.

Can`t find a model 411 here...only the
311/421. Looks like (from online) the 411 is available in Aus. and UK, not USA. How much difference does the split E mechanism make?

Answered in another thread.

Quote from Meme:
[["Certainly.

However in USA some snobby types may look down their noses at the closed holes (which do NOT make a poorer player!)

Of course there are different qualities of flute in this range.

Yamaha YFL-311 has a silver head, is very well made, split E, Low C, off-set G. Excellent flute, and you would have to be quite an advanced player for it to be a limiting factor. I reckon this flute plays better that many top professional, all-silver, `hand-made` flutes played by professionals fifty years ago, such has been the improvement in flute design.

However you could go for a classier flute such as Muramatsu EX or GX. In 2004 at least, James Galway used one for his practice flute. They are awesome to play, and superbly made. You would get little more flute by paying megabucks more - just a lot of snob value.

These are available with closed hole and low C options. See http://www.muramatsu-america.com/instr.htm" ]]

The 311 doesn`t appear to be readily available in the US. I know the YFL-321 does not have the split-E but, otherwise,
it seems to be the same as the 311.

True. It is otherwise the same. In my country 321 is probably non-existent, but 311 is quite common. And 211, (non-silver head, but still with split E) used to be arguably the most common student flute here, now replaced by a cheaper non-split-E version.