Hi! I just joined your site and I have a question. I have an old violin that I don't know much about. The people that lived in the house before us left it there.
I know that Jacobus Stainer is a famous violin, but I was wondering if mine is a real one or not.

On the inside of the violin, it reads: Jacobus Stainer, in Absum, Prope Oenipontum 16/7
The number /7 is hand written.

Thank you

Or is there another way to tell if its real or not? Thanks

are you sure that the 16/7 is not actually a date. it is a little weird i think that it would have a printed label for 1660's, which is about the time that he made his violins. (according to Wiki) as the last two, or last number is a handwritten i would say that it is a copy as it should have, "fecit ___" with a date in the space. it means made this in basically in latin. the rest is Jacob Stainer in Absam near Innsbruck made this.
sometimes copies can be worth a bit, not like loads as the originals, this can be the case with stradivarius violin copies as well. i don't think that it would be an original if it was left behind!
get it checked out, you never know.

Ok, Thanks! I also think that it is a little wierd that they wouldn't take it along, but maybe they didn't know the value of it. I have done research on it, and I don't think that it is a real Stainer, but I am going to get it checked out.
Thank you!

Yeah, I'm not too sure about that 16/7 thing either. That is one oif the reasons i believe it to be fake.