4 point Checklist When Buying Antiques
Welcome to South African Antiques, here you will find information and the value of antique pieces – 4 point Checklist When Buying Antiques
To see the Value or Prices of Antique pieces click here
The 4 point checklist when buying antiques
- Circa
- Quantity
- Provenance
- Demand
Circa – Explained
The estimated time or era that an piece was manufactured is called circa. Circa is an approximate date stamp and mostly used in the antique language. We know that not all antique pieces has hallmarks or date stamps but by studying and by research we can find information on the pieces with the approximately timeline. That time line is called Circa.
The quantity will influence the value of Antique Pieces
There are many factors to take in consideration when you put an price tag on an antique piece. An example will be that in South Africa millions of tickey’s [3d coins] were manufactured whereas the 1931 tickey only 32 were made.
Today you can buy a Union Tickey online for under R20 but a 1931 tickey will cost you around R200 000. The reason for this is that the coin is rare and extremely hard to find.
Also keep in mind that the value of an antique piece depends on if it was circulated, condition and packaging.
The grading or condition of the product will also influence the value and could increase or drop the price dramatically. You can have two of the exact pieces manufactured on the same day but the difference in value can be thousands of rands or dollars due to the condition of the piece.
The importance of Provenance when dealing with Antiques
Provenance is a record of ownership and history of an antique piece.
Provenance is defined as the place where something originally came or began, or a record tracing the ownership history of certain items that helps to confirm their authenticity and value. When a rug is woven in Turkey, this is an example of a time when the provenance is Turkey.
Another Example will be record of ownership, custody or location of an historical object. In the case of books, this can mean signatures or notes written in books, as well as bookplates and stamps.
Demand of Antique Pieces
The demand and scarcity of an Antique piece will influence the value. The more the demand the more the asking price will be. Some pieces has gained tremendous value over the last couple of decades due to high demand of some pieces. Tiffany antique pieces is an great example. Many collectors would own these pieces in their collection and know it is easy to sell as there is a high “demand”for Tiffany.
What is antiques and when is it classified as Antique.
Antiques are items that were in used more than 100 years ago. This does not necessarily mean that the older the item the more valuable it becomes. The price value of Vintage or Antique pieces range from the circa [manufacturing period], the quantity that was manufactured, the provenance and most importantly the demand or popularity of the antique piece.
What is the difference between vintage and antique?
Any item older than a 100 years will be categorized as an antique whereas Vintage Items are much younger. Vintage is old but typically manufactured before 1999 or even earlier like the 1950’s.
Vintage items will include watches, jewelry, clothing and accessories. Electronics and cameras will also be classified as vintage.
The age of a piece doesn’t directly determine it’s value – a vintage item from the 50’s could be much more valuable than an similar piece manufactured from an earlier time. Antiques in excellent condition do get higher prices because of their age and history.
Items older than 100 years or older are to be considered genuinely antique and collectors are familiar with hallmarks of popular styles throughout the ages.
If you find it hard to date an item yourself seek for an expert to give you advice
Can you give me an evaluation on my antique item
At South African Antiques we do not do evaluation on products but when possible we can give you an estimate value on the item. We do have a community forum where you can ask about the products and get advice from people around the country.
Can I sell my antiques on South African Antiques Website?
The answer is yes. By using our free classifieds you can upload as many items that you need to.
There is no charge and it is absolutely free.
Make sure that your images is clear and try to crop it to 600 x 400 pixels with paint on your pc before uploading the images.
Cropping the images is not essential but will give you a perfect balanced image that fits into the look of our website.
Advertising on our Antique Classifieds has it own bonus
When you advertise on South African Antiques your ad gets automatically shared to Facebook and Twitter.
Once your ad expires and you want to run it again you can reactivate your ad with one click.
To see the Value or Prices of Antique pieces click here
Getting Started with Antiques
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Getting Started with Antiques