One thing I can add. There is a style of guitar that is found made in Europe. It has a slotted head (but with small diameter centers than with the plastic/bone classical), a moveable bridge and tailpiece like a violin except the tailpiece is made of metal and is screwed in on the back, and a flat belly. The neck is narrower than a classical neck and has very little if any of the curvature described by clansfolk. They usually have a "zero fret", which is a fret close to the nut used to stop the string at the headstock end rather than for fretting. There is usually no truss rod, although immitations of the Selmers do have them.

The design of a tailpiece instead of a bridge connected to the belly allows the instrument to have a lighter strutting for a given tension. In fact the limiting factor as to how heavy the strings you can put on is what the neck and neck joint will bear.

I had one that seemed to be designed for extra-light steel strings. I had a mechanic wedge up the fingerboard a bit to compensate for neck bowing and put on light strings. So far it seems to be holding up.

Still, the best thing to do is to ask a qualified techmician.

A dealer can tell you how valuable it is too. Unless there is something wrong with it, I don't think playing it will harm it. Of course there is a danger of loss....

Murray