1853 Colton U.S. Wall Map
Watch
GUEST:
About ten years ago my wife and I attended a local library auction. They got rid of a lot of their extras. And I just happened to be drawn to a map area, and the local maps of Rochester were all taken, and I happened to see this, and it looked pretty interesting, so I took it in hand and left with it.
APPRAISER:
And what did you pay for it?
GUEST:
Two dollars, if I remember correctly.
APPRAISER:
Well, this is a wall map from the middle of the 19th century, 1853, issued by Colton firm in New York. And the middle 19th century was of course a period of great immigration to the United States and great movement of population to the western parts of the United States. And with that great movement and new immigrants, there was a huge demand for maps. Maps like this were issued, and then laid onto linen. And you can see a little bit of the linen up here. And then they were varnished with varnish to protect them and attached to rollers like this, so they could be hung. And they were hung in land offices and law offices, in county seats and places like that, so the public could come in, or people who worked in the office could look. Now, maps like this were really the greatest of the 19th century American maps. And the reason for that is, one thing is they were the most up to date. They had to be up to date, because they were used by the people moving out west. And not only were they up to date, but they were filled with an immense amount of information that was necessary. For instance, people going out on the Oregon Trail could look on this map, and up here you can see you have the Oregon route. And it goes along down through here. And they even show the cutoff of the shortcuts to different places. And over here on the right we have statistics that would be important to these immigrants. You had population, including colored persons, free and slave, and the populated square miles, farms under cultivation, and what they called productive establishment. These were things that were important to people. Unfortunately, because of the way that they were made, they're very, very rare. Because they were exposed to the elements, they would get stains on them. You can see stains. They would also flake off. Restoration on these things is incredibly expensive. Luckily yours is in very good condition. And that helps to add to its interest and its value. I would say a map like this would sell for between $1,200 and $1,500.
GUEST:
That's nice.
APPRAISER:
Which is a pretty good return on your two dollar investment. It's too bad that the library got rid of it.
GUEST:
Yeah, that's exactly true.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
