Antique Articles

Generically, almost anything that we consider old tends to be described as an antique and in our modern world today, that may be true.  However, to truly be considered antique, an article must be more than 100 years old or be rare enough to have considerable monetary value.  To be more precise, antiques are articles which are old and are also limited in supply.  The more limited in supply, the more antique the article is considered. 

Antiques are also thought of as collectibles.  You can collect a piece of furniture to enhance your decor, a ceramic dish to decorate a cupboard, or silverware to be passed on to the next generation.  However, these items must be rare enough to be defined as antiques.  Otherwise, they are merely used goods or what we know as junk.

People often think that the older an article looks, the more antique it must be.  This is a total misconception.  Appearance is not a factor at all.  Something may appear to have belonged to your great-grandmother, but that's not necessarily so.  The age of the item has nothing to do with its value.  There must be a demand for that particular item otherwise it has little value.  Antiques have value, and that value is based on demand and supply limitations.

There are two major reasons that people become interested in antiques.  The first is that they develop an interest in collecting something in particular such as ceramics or pottery for personal enjoyment or as a hobby.  The second reason is that they inherit particular items from a family member.  Everyone has the same thing in mind, though.  That is to ensure that what they purchase or receive will appreciate in value.  That is the common goal of all antique collectors.  All of us have heard the stories of people who find a piece of "junk" at a yard sale only to find out that it is really a precious antique worth thousands of dollars.  Anyone can do that, can't they?

Before you daydream away your thousands, you must find out something about what you have.  There are two things to consider when collecting antiques.  First, become knowledgeable about the antiques you are most interested in and then purchase them for the lowest possible price.  This way you will get optimum enjoyment from collecting the piece as well as ensure that your collection appreciates in value over time.

However, a lot of folks inherit individual items or maybe an entire household estate from a relative.  Most of them never had an interest in antiques until they acquired them through their benevolent relative.  Like the rest of us, they have heard the stories of grand riches being unknowingly stored away in attics.  However, unless this relative was a knowledgeable collector and purposely purchased the items based on value, most of the inherited items are probably worthless junk.  Now, if the items purchased to decorate that old home long ago were a high quality pieces to start with, they may be worth something now.

Only a professional antiques appraiser can tell you for sure if what you have is of any monetary value.  Having items appraised costs around $100 - $500 per hour.  Therefore, be sure you are prepared to pay up for the information before you ask.  Appraisers charge that much because most of their knowledge is used to assist insurance companies and attorneys settling estates.  An appraiser is required to do a lot of research on those items then prepare a detailed report that will be accepted in a court of law.  Hence, the somewhat costly fees.

How do you know if an item is a valuable antique or merely junk?  Learn as much as you can about the items you'd like to collect or have inherited.  You will need to research, but be aware that libraries and bookstores are filled with books on every possible item that could ever be collected as well as more price guides than you can count.  To do this research yourself is going to mean spending quite a chunk of change at the bookstore or spending most of your free time browsing the shelves.