Roy Acuff Fiddle Winds Up at Goodwill, Now Up for Auction

The current price going for bid on the Goodwill auction is $8,002.

Written by Kelly Brickey
Roy Acuff Fiddle Winds Up at Goodwill, Now Up for Auction
Roy Acuff; Photo by David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images, Fiddle; Photo courtesy Goodwill

When a Goodwill facility got hand of an old-fashioned fiddle with a special number on it, they knew it wasn’t merely a vintage instrument but rather a musical artifact from country legend.

Donated through an anonymous source, the Goodwill Center of Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas found themselves with a fiddle and decided to discover its historic past after seeing a No. 19 on a sticker inside. After conducting some research, employees figured out that the fiddle used to be in Roy Acuff’s possession and the number played a big role in the artifact since Acuff’s uncle, Evart Acuff, used to make all of the singer’s instruments.

Not wasting any time but also valuing the antique, Gary Raines of Goodwill’s e-commerce program located in Kansas City, Kansas, made the ultimate decision to put the fiddle up for auction.

“We recognized right away that it was something special and we now have it up for auction. We have no information on the owner. They just donated it and moved on. … The certificate of authenticity and other paperwork are copies but we are confident that it’s the real thing,” Raines said recently.

Raines posted the item up for bid on the Shop Goodwill site and buyer immediately went to work by betting their money and raising the stakes as the days went by. The highest payment for it by 1 p.m. CST on Thursday, January 4, was $8,002, and the minimum bid for the next interested customer must go up just two dollars more to secure their place.

Acuff made his name in the country music industry as a singer and fiddler in the Smoky Mountain Boys. Over the years, Acuff established himself well into the community by heading the Acuff-Rose Music publishing firm and continually performed shows at the Grand Ole Opry. He passed away at the age of 89 in November of 1992.

Fans interested in making a bid through Goodwill can head over to the Shop Goodwill website to type in their own wager before the auction ends on January 6 at 9 p.m. PST.