According to the U.S. Customs Service, an antique is an item that is 100 years old or older. However, many people think that anything that is old is an antique. But since "old' is a relative term which means different things to different people, it is safest to stick to the 100 years old or older when defining an item as antique.
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| Tiffany style antique lamp |
Antiques include the full range of items from everyday utilitarian items to purely decorative pieces. Even food, such as Civil War hardtack, is an antique. But just because something is old doesn’t mean it is valuable.
Valuation
Value is determined by supply and demand. Something can be an antique (i.e. over 100 years old) but if no one wants it then it has little, if any, value. So age alone is not the determining factor when appraising an antique. If there is little or no interest in owning a particular item, its value will be correspondingly little or nothing.
Comparables
Just because you see something advertised on eBay with a “Buy it Now” price or you see a price tag on something at a show does not mean the item is worth the asking price or that it will sell for the asking price. With eBay sales, always look at the ‘Completed’ sales to see if the item you are interested in has sold and for how much.
This is one of the ways an appraiser begins to determine the value of an item, he (or she) looks for comparable sales where similar items have sold on the open market. There are many other factors an appraiser considers when determining the value of an item, but that's fodder for another post.
This is one of the ways an appraiser begins to determine the value of an item, he (or she) looks for comparable sales where similar items have sold on the open market. There are many other factors an appraiser considers when determining the value of an item, but that's fodder for another post.
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