Appraisals

Per museum policy, the Saginaw Art Museum does not offer appraisals.  Below you will find information that may be helpful.  This information is not intended to be comprehensive and does not constitute an endorsement or a recommendation by the Saginaw Art Museum.

Gaining an Identification

Local sources of information or personnel to help you identify your object(s) are:

• university or area libraries
• state and local historical societies or museums
• state extension services

Gaining the Value

Antiques, artworks, and other collectible items have such an individual nature that fixed values are difficult to establish.  Prices asked and amounts offered are determined by personal interests of both seller and purchaser and by trends in the market.

You can ascertain the current range of prices for items exchanged at sales and auctions by consulting the price guides available in bookstores or public libraries.  Also, dealers actively engaged in buying and selling antiques, professional appraisers attached to sales galleries, and official appraisers of local probate courts usually can give prevailing price values.  Information on providers of these services can be found in collectors’ magazines, in the yellow pages of telephone directories, or in other sources available from the reference librarian in your area library.

Source: https://www.si.edu/faqs/appraisals