Stradivarius Violin Price Guide: Current Values & Sales

Antonio Stradivari made violins in Cremona, Italy, and his surviving instruments are among the most studied and most traded instruments in the world. Because so few exist and each has its own history, there is no catalog price. What exists is a record of past sales.

This page lists auction results with the date of each sale. They show what buyers paid on a given day. They do not say what any instrument would sell for now, and nobody can state a current value for a specific violin without a fresh appraisal.

The table below pulls results from the 'Notable auction sales' pages of the auction house Tarisio, plus the Sotheby's sale reported by NPR. Tarisio's pages list sales in the original currency and then in dollars at the time of sale. Sales at Tarisio carry the instrument's nickname, which usually comes from a former owner or a famous player.

The Lady Blunt sale in June 2011 reached $15,821,285, and the 'da Vinci' sale in June 2022 reached $15,340,000. Tarisio's press page lists both among the highest prices it has achieved for stringed instruments at auction. The Joachim-Ma result of $11,300,000 in February 2025 included buyer fees, according to the NPR report.

Each Stradivarius differs in age, condition, maker period, and history. Violins from the middle of Stradivari's career are often valued above his earliest work, which is part of why the c. 1666 'Salabue, Matsuda' sold for $3,480,000 while later violins fetched several times that. Condition matters: a well-preserved instrument with its original parts is usually valued above one that has been heavily repaired.

Provenance also counts. A violin once owned by a celebrated soloist, such as the 'Kubelik', can attract extra interest, though the sale of that instrument in May 2003 for $949,500 was much lower than recent results. The older sales were made at a different point in the market.

Older results are useful as history but poor guides to today's prices. The Kubelik sale in 2003, the Molitor sale in October 2010 at $3,600,000, and the ex-Kym sale in December 2013 at $2,266,663 predate more recent results. The exchange rate also matters, since some sales were first made in pounds, as Tarisio notes.

Each row carries a month and a year because the date is part of the result. A price in 2011 and a price in 2024 were set by different bidders in different markets. Do not compare them as if one year were a baseline for the other, and treat any single figure as the price of one violin on one day.

Many Stradivari violins change hands privately, and those prices are not published. Auction results therefore cover only part of the market. Anyone who owns or wants to buy one should seek an expert appraisal and written authentication from a recognized dealer or auction house, and should confirm the identification of the violin carefully.

In practice, most are held by museums, foundations, and private collectors, and some are loaned to performers. A buyer needs a specialist dealer, an auction house, and a clear provenance. Insurance and secure storage are also part of owning one.