One of the recent Theremin World frontpage headlines showed a “custom built” theremin presumably made by Leon Theremin himself, for sale for $75,000.00
Yes folks, that is seventy-five THOUSAND dollars!
There is no evidence that this instrument was made personally by Leon Theremin. It was probably made by the Teletouch Corporation, a company started by Lev in 1933 after RCA dropped the theremin and ceased manufacture. Teletouch employed ten full time workers (including Julius Goldberg) and made everything from automatic door openers to burglar alarms. They did make a few low cost theremins (housed in cabinets of exactly this design) but they were nothing like Lev’s custom work.
I can only assume from the price tag on this instrument that the sellers are either nuts, or do not wish to sell.