[Nhcoll-l] Advice on estimating the value of donated collections?

[John E Simmons]

Greg is correct that the museum should not be involved in the appraisal or
recommend an appraiser to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

You can tell the donor that there are several ways to estimate value for
the specimens. The obvious way is to find an appraiser who specializes in
natural history collections (the Smithsonian has a list of recognized
appraisal organizations at https://www.si.edu/faqs/appraisals). Other ways
to estimate value include checking auction sites and Ebay and such places
for prices of similar objects (it is surprising how many natural history
specimens are sold that way), or to calculate the cost of duplicating the
collection (even though one can't really duplicate a natural history
collection because specimens are a record of the occurrence of species at
particular times and places)--the costs of travel, obtaining permits, field
work, preparation, etc.

Remember that the donor will have to either make these inquiries or hire
someone not connected to the museum to make the inquiries.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Associate Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima


On Mon, Feb 28, 2022 at 9:32 AM Taylor, Sarah <sarah.taylor at uconn.edu>
wrote:

> Good morning all,
>
>
>
> A colleague at a regional museum reached out to ask me for advice on how
> to estimate the value of a collection of donated birds (mostly skins, some
> taxidermy mounts). He’s not interested in individual values for each piece,
> but a big picture “lump sum.” I’m sure this has come up on the listserve
> before, but I haven’t been able to locate it. If anyone has ideas or can
> point me in the direction of a resource to send to my colleague, I’d really
> appreciate it! I have no appraisal skills myself – and I’m a botanist – so
> I’m at a total loss on my end.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Sarah
>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sarah Taylor, PhD
>
>
> Collections Manager, CONN
>
> George Safford Torrey Herbarium
> Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
> *University of Connecticut*
> 75 North Eagleville Road, Unit 3043
> Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3043
> U.S.A.
>
> P: 860.486.1889
> F: 860.486.4320
> http://bgbaseserver.eeb.uconn.edu/
>
>
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