Looking for information about this Ukulele

Hi all, I am trying to find out more information about this Ukulele. It was originally my grandfather's but after he passed it sat in my grandmother's wardrobe for about 25 years. According to the label it's Genuine Koa Wood, "Royal Hawaiian" and was made in Hawaii. Below this it says copyright and then states a year. I can make out the first and last numbers as 1 and 7. It then states either H. M. Co. or M. M. Co. The emblem shown is the Hawaiian Coat of Arms and the writing is the motto (as shown on Wikipedia).

It's about 53cm long and there is a slight crack shown by the black line on the top side above the strings and on the back as you can see there is a black mark and i believe the faint markings next to this are where a strap of some sort may have been attached. Otherwise it is in ok condition. Someone who knew what they were doing could probably fix it up. Unfortunately I don't have a case for it.

If anyone knows who made it or if it is worth anything or any other information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Patrick

The "H. M. Co." stands for Hawaiian Mahogany Company. The ukulele was made in Honolulu, probably in the 1930s. Even though it was made by the Hawaiian Mahogany Company, it is made of Koa. The company also made ukuleles branded Echo. Not extraordinarily valuable, but worth a few hundred bucks anyway, were it not for the crack.

Wow, that's a very interesting little uke. I'd be very proud if it were in my family's heirlooms. I'd fix it up and play it! I'll bet it sings....

Thank you both for your help. It is nice to have a bit more information about it. I think I will be holding onto it for a while yet. Maybe one day I will learn how to play it!

It actually looks like it's in pretty good condition. Where people really mess up is when they try to overdo it with the "fixing" it up and end up taking all of the value out of it. Unless it's a deep crack, I personally wouldn't touch it, re-string it and play.

I wouldn't try to fix it myself. If I had it "fixed" I'd take it to someone who knew what they were doing and would know if it was worth fixing or better left as is.

Try some Oasis light strings on it, sure sound awesome on my Kamaka.