I researched this stamp a few years ago, and came up with "pre-1927." The Zildjian company opened in the U.S. in 1929, and this stamp predates AT LEAST that.

Also, I found out that these cymbals are worth very little. Nice to hang on the wall as a display piece, but not much else, unless you're looking for that "sewer lid" tone...

That's a 1930's era trademark.

Your supposition that all K. Zildjian Constantinoples must be dated previous to the founding of the Avedis Zildjian Co. 1929 is wrong. Your reasoning for making this assumption is also incorrect. The A & K Zildjian companies were two completely different cymbal companies; each with it's own history and each with their own cymbals. The history of one does not follow the other, and in fact they are not linked except by a family name from a common ancestor. The K. Zildjian Constantinople era cymbals and the Avedis Zildjians were both being produced contemporaneously for a little more than a decade.

And to say that "they aren't worth very much" may be true for a 14" cymbal like this one, but its not at all true for the larger sizes. As the diameter goes up, the value increases exponentially. They can be worth a small fortune to a concert orchestra or an orchestral player.

thank you for the info drumaholic, and i understand whats up with this pie, by the brother who started this co. he knew what he was doing, im a brass guy and i was in awe at this pie its one of the sweetest sounding like bell brass, its unreal in tone ,depth and wash and there is one on f-bay for a buy it now at 1k or so and its a 12 , i played this brass with brushes, im just saying...

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Not according to the research I did years ago. This site, for example, shows a stamp very similar to the one jaghog posted, and dates it before the 1920s, whereas the ones following that era look NOTHING like jaghog's. I'm not claiming that everything you find online is true, but, you see, there IS information out there that confirms the claim I made, and discounts yours, Drumaholic.

http://robscott.net/cymbals/k-constantinople/

That was neither my supposition nor my assumption. I was simply regurgitating the information that I had come across while looking this stamp up years ago. If you have some definitive source you can steer me towards, by all means, please go ahead. I don't claim to be an expert, just trying to help out jaghog with his inquiry.

Yes, this is totally correct, and I made no claims to the contrary. Also, I find it interesting that the Zildjian heir that started the American company was a candy maker, and wanted nothing to do with the cymbal business before being talked into it by his relative.

Yes, anything smaller than about 16" is worth maybe $30-40 is what I found out. I've been intrigued by the symphony orchestras that still use really old crash cymbals, like, 1800s old. You hear them on recordings and think, "Man, those sound REALLY good!"

I'm curious, Drumaholic, about where you are getting your information about the stamp. From what I have seen, your information seems to be wrong. Please, fill in the details, attach a link, or refer a book or something...

My information seems to be wrong?

Let me fill you in. You see all those trademarks on the site link you provided?

Guess where they originally came from?

And all those names that are attached to those trademark photos? Guess where they came from?

Any ideas? I'll clue you in. They all came from me.

I am the originator the entire system of dating by cymbals by trademark. I put them all in their order; and I gave them their names. This web-site that you think proves me wrong is based entirely on my research. That guy who's site you referenced had absolutely nothing to do with any of the information that you see posted there. The information shown there is not all correct either. I'm the one who originated the idea of dating cymbals by trademark type. I researched and developed the entire trademark dating system. Dating cymbals by trademark began with me and it ends with me.

So how am I supposed to be wrong?

Whoa there! Take a breath and come down. A simple explanation of your credentials/research would have sufficed, rather than whatever THAT display was all about. I didn't realize I was speaking to all-knowing and all-powerful original cymbal stamp dater. Maybe you should have a special forum title underneath your name or something so nobody else in the future naively confuses your greatness with any other anonymous forum member.

So, where DID you get your information about this particular stamp, since other people online seem to be skewing your information? Years of research, I imagine, but what does that entail? Have you come across people with these cymbals who saved the original, dated receipts? Did you come across any literature that states exactly when the metal stamps were changed? I'm genuinely curious ( I'm assuming you're not 100+ years old and have witnessed this stuff first hand).

I explained this in my first article in Not So Modern Drummer, now called Vintage Drummer magazine:

http://www.spiekermann.onlinehome.de/ZDatingZildjianCymbals.pdf

It will be more thoroughly explained when I put up my planned web-site.

Great! Yeah, I've seen that article several times in my fumblings around the internet. I imagine trying to pinpoint dates/periods is slow going and constant. Now, I'm looking forward to your planned website, and any more nailing down of details you come up with. Any idea of the timeframe that will happen by?

About 7 years. Its a retirement project.