One of the most frequently quoted mistakes about the history of
the player piano is that the Peerless 44 and D were supposedly the
first coin operated pianos marketed in America.

When Harvey Roehl was doing research for his monumental book,
"Player Piano Treasury," he read in Alfred Dolge's 1911 book,
"Pianos and Their Makers," that Engelhardt had an electric piano on
the market by 1898.  Harvey mistakenly assumed this referred to the
later styles 44 and D, but Dolge was actually referring to a home
player piano powered by an electric motor.

The coin-operated Peerless styles 44 and D were not introduced until
1902.  A detailed history of the various Engelhardt firms and their
products will appear in the forthcoming book "Reblitz-Bowers Guide to
Coin-Operated American Pianos and Orchestrions."

Art Reblitz