Dorothea

Thanks

I do not do appraisals. However I have done some searches for values on this type of document as found in the online market place. I have seen a few for sale through online venues such as ebay. I have not seen one selling for more than $150.00 online. The value will depend on condition as well as the content of the document – i.e. how valuable it is to a collector. The condition of the document I repaired digitally was probably fair to good—good being better.

If I have an item for sale such as this I always look up current information via a google search as a starting point. Something like “collecting antique documents”. Other options are to contact auction houses to ask if they deal in old documents or research the document through your local library. Most big cities will have one or two professional auction houses and all librarians are there to help you find information. There may be something in the history of your document that makes it more interesting and thus more valuable to a collector.

If you need an appraisal for insurance purposes your local yellow pages online would have listings for “Appraisers”. If you are near a local historical society such an organization might have acredited appraisers in their membership or hire an appraiser in for a low cost fundraiser.

To protect its condition and thus whatever value it has, keep it in a dry environment away from light and in some sort of enclosure, preferably using archival materials.

Dorothea