Investing in Antiques - A Good Idea?

Andrew Richmond and Hollie Davis write a monthly column in Maine Antique Digest called The Young Collector. The December issue is about investing in antiques. According to Richmond and Davis, the recommendation for young collectors is to buy what you love, and not for investment purposes. But a very interesting component of the article is that quality antiques typically hold value and may in some case appreciate in value. Therefore, they are considered a better investment than purchasing new furniture which typically depreciates in value.

Richmond and Davis state Buying antiques makes fiscal sense, and we've said that here before. Buy a $2000 Chippendale chest today, and in two, five, ten, or 20 years, it will have retained value. The same cannot be said of a new mass-produced Chippendale-style chest. Therefore, it is a wise financial move to buy antiques to furnish your household. It's a long way, though, to go from "retained value" to "appreciated value," about as far as it is between "fiscal sense" and "financial gain."

They continue we recently did an informal survey of a handful of collectors we know who fall into the "veteran collector" category. All have been collecting (and sometimes dealing) for at least 25 years. We asked them if, when they started collecting, antiques were pushed as investments, and they all responded "no." Apparently, before we young collectors were out of elementary school, collectors were simply encouraged to buy what they loved and buy the best they could afford.

As appraisers and dealers the thought process works very well. When recommending a buying strategy for clients, steer them toward collecting where there is an interest and desire and recommend antiques in place of new property for retention of value (although not for appreciation and investment) instead of purchasing depreciating assets.

I think I have mentioned this before, but Andrew Richmond also contributed an article to the Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies called One Auctioneer's Evaluation of the Online Price Database. To order the Journal, click HERE.

To read the MAD article click HERE.