Hello Marty,
Thank you for sending mearto.com your floor standing grandfather clock for appraisal. I am going to try to assist you with this item and also to provide further information about this type of clock which should alter what you have been told in the past. . .
TITLE:
Victorian/Edwardian, machine made, triple weight driven, walnut stained oak, 8 day time, strike and quarterly Westminster chiming Hall clock (aka-the modern grandfather clock), unsigned, case and movement likely of English origin, circa 1895-1910.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: 100" in height, dark walnut stained oak Hall clock case. The hood with a rectilinear caddy-top (sarcophagus) and slightly arched pediment above supports three wooden finials, two ball finials to either side or one large carved crown shaped finial at the center. Below is a "broken arch" cornice placed above the arched glazed dial door with key escutcheon on the lower rail and flanked by two oak free standing colonnettes. A concave molding transitions down to the trunk section with its full length, rectangular beveled glass door through which one sees the descent of the three brass canister weights and the arc of the pendulum a sit swings inside the case. The case sides are sharp and unadorned. A second concave molding leads one down to the rectilinear base with recessed central panel surrounded by thumb molding. A stepped molding takes one down to the broad base with its straight bracket feet and arched apron between. . .
Dial: The arched brass dial has a silvered Arabic hour chapter ring in circular cartouche form, with closed minutes to the outside, silvered subsidiary seconds bit under the twelve, dial center with foliate brass ornamentation and similar patterns noted in the four spandrels. There are three winding apertures in the dial center for time, strike and chime functions. Levers located at the three and nine positions are for setting the Westminster chime and for the strike/silent feature. Note the silvered plaque just above the six. It is left blank. {This indicates a clock made for export to a retailer who would usually engrave the company name, e.g. "Tiffany & Co., NYC" onto that plaque.} There are steel Chippendale style hands. The arch or lunette of this dial has two revolving moons, usually accompanied by a landscape and seascape scene, two stylized hemispheres and a logo between the hemispheres. This gilt logo, a Fleur-de-Lys resting on two curled leaves. It usually indicates the clockmaker or the furniture company making the case. (I keep a list of such logos but this is one I do not recognize, but will do some further research on.) The dial is otherwise not signed by the clockmaker. . .
Movement: Not shown but this would be an large, solid brass plate movement powered by the descent of three brass canister weights with a duration of eight days, hourly and half hourly gong or metal rod striking and quarterly Westminster chiming on a set of eight metal rods or even a nest of eight bells (this is only my guess at what is behind the dial). ////////////// Condition: The clock is assumed to be fully functional. The case is a traditional Victorian & Edwardian-era English design. It appears to be in very fine condition with a nice old patina on the wood and no major damage. My guess is that this case was made by one of the numerous English furniture factories operated in London, Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester, England and made for export to the USA. The movement maker was also likely located in England. The Edwardian era would be 1901-1910. Therefore, I called this clock 'Victorian' since I felt it could have been made a bit earlier.
HISTORICAL;
This data is key to understanding the type of clock you have. It could never have been made in the 1860's. The Hall clock first originated in the USA, but with strong ties to England in terms of the movements, dials and the bells that were originally used in these cases.
Hall Clock:
Walter Durfee of Rhode Island is generally considered to be the "Father of the Modern Grandfather Clock". He developed the concept of the large Hall clock with a glass waist door through which one could see the descent of brass weights and the long pendulum. On a trip to England in 1886 he met J. Harrington who had just patented a chiming mechanism utilizing heavy brass tubes, which also were visible through the glass door in the waist of the clock. At the same time J.J. Elliot of London was making movements for these overly large Hall clocks. Durfee arranged to have Elliot make the movements and Harrington the tubular chimes for his tallcase clocks. Most cases housed either 5 or 9 tubes. Although quite expensive they were an instant hit with the public in North America. This business association continued well into the 1900's. Numerous firms began to spring up offering some version of this product. In the U.S. the Herschede Clock Company of Cincinnati was the largest dealer in America. Companies could make their own movements or acquire them from clock movement companies in England or in Germany. In addition, high end store such as Tiffany in N.Y.C., Caldwell in Philadelphia and Black Starr and Frost of Boston/NYC sold many of these clocks by ordering the case from a furniture maker and the works from a clock company. By 1910 it became evident that factories in Germany could produce a quality product at a cheaper price than the factories in America or England. Many of these German movements were imported and used in these Hall clocks, and most commonly there were no identifying markings on the German brass movements. Ansonia introduced its version of an "antique" oak FLOOR clock with brass trim in 1886. It was still pictured in their catalog of 1814. In Germany the finest of these Hall clocks were produced by Furtwangen Und Sohne in the Black Forest region. These were in extremely ornate cases with a multitude of brass trim. Some had three weights which indicated the clock would strike the time, the hour and play musical chimes every fifteen minutes. The style lost much of the trim over time, and it was replaced by wooden turnings of the columns and reeding or machine made fluting in parts of the columns. Inevitably, the American clock factories tried to compete with Germany on price and produced similar clocks but with less expensive movements. These movements did not strike on tubes but struck on rod gongs and were usually imported from German firms. These clocks produced a melodious sound but were considered inferior to the tubular chimes. These clocks bring substantially lower prices than those with multiple tubes. The zenith of hall clock production ran from circa 1890 to about 1920. The demand for such clocks has never completely disappeared. The price has fallen substantially except for the most heavily carved cases with tubular chimes. . .

It was my pleasure to be of service to you today.
My fair market appraisal is based on actual recent past comparable sales recorded at auctions of similar three weight Hall clocks. The fair market value would be approximately $1200-$1500 today. Retail "asking prices" can, of course, be significantly higher and vary.
Best regards,
David