Arainach

I responded to a Craigslist ad about 'antique silver cornet: $20'. Turned out to be a 1907 York Perfectone in surprisingly good shape - some bell dents, but after a chemical clean/pad, felt, spring replacement it was actually in playable condition. I'm in the process of getting the bell dents out and the leadpipe replaced (the chemical clean discovered a pile of holes; too many to just patch), but the valves were in decent shape and I considered it an excellent deal.

And while it's not quite to the steal level, just yesterday I picked up a mid-late 70s Strad 37 Silver (SN 125xxx) with some pitting/silver wear at the usual contact points but otherwise in great shape, with a Jo-ral straight and an old Jet-tone mouthpiece for $750. The guy also had an even older one (SN 66xxx) in even better shape for $900, which tempted me, but since this is just my backup horn I didn't go for it.