n.the amount a willing buyer would pay a willing seller in an unregulated marketPinkett 1970, 74Robert F. Metzdorf, a literary properties appraiser of North Colebrook, Conn., outlined some of the considerations involved in establishing a financial value on manuscripts. He maintained that independent appraisers who are experts on the monetary and research value of primary source materials can provide the best service to donors of manuscripts.Brichford 1977, 20Setting a monetary value on archival or manuscript material is nearly as difficult and uncertain as determining its research value. Books and rare manuscripts have a known value that can be determined from auction records and dealer catalogs. Most manuscript collections cannot be evaluated in this manner.Maher 1992, 151A vault might also be needed for artifacts with high monetary value and collectibles, such as the coins, stamps, or literary manuscripts sometimes found in archival and manuscripts collections.Ham 1993, 46Before making a major expenditure—likely one involving several thousand dollars in an already inflated market—the repository should get an independent appraisal of the collection’s monetary value, particularly if its archivists are unfamiliar with the market.Schellenberg 1996, 232An archivist is quite within his rights in requiring prospective users to sign for the documents they receive, for he is responsible for their preservation, and some of them may have great monetary value.Satow 2016“One of the trends I’ve seen over the past 20 years is the increasing monetization of collections, and viewing them for their monetary values,” said Peter J. Wosh, director of the archives and public history program at New York University.
Notes
Donors to archives frequently have the monetary value of their donations assessed so that they can claim that value for an income tax deduction.
