Monetary Appraisals:

The Dickinson Museum Center is unable to provide appraisals for the monetary value of materials brought in for identification, offered as gifts, or submitted for any other purpose.

• Conflict of Interest: The Internal Revenue Service regards museums and libraries as interested parties and appraisals prepared by them for gifts that they receive are subject to question as a conflict of interest.  Consequently, to protect both donors and the museum, the Dickinson Museum Center, as an interested party, will not provide monetary appraisals for material objects.

• Accurate Valuation: Accurate establishment of a price can be a complex procedure, requiring a time-consuming search in auction records and price guides that museum staff are unable to undertake. When an appraisal is used for tax or insurance purposes, an independent appraiser must be prepared to defend his or her appraisal in court.  This requires an expert knowledge of prices.  The museum is not in the business of buying and selling on a daily basis, so staff members cannot provide accurate current market information as appraisers can.  Furthermore, appraisers often have much more extensive collections of price guides and related bibliographies than can be found in most museums and libraries. 

• Finding an Appraiser: Individuals should expect to pay an appraisal fee, unless materials are subsequently purchased by the appraiser.  Appraisers in your area can be located by checking the telephone directory under headings such as "Appraiser" and "Antique-Dealers."  The Appraisers Association of America, Inc., 386 Park Avenue South, Suite 2000, New York, NY 10016, (http://www.appraisersassoc.org/), will send a directory of members for a small fee.  Additional information on appraisals and qualified appraisers is included in Internal Revenue Service Publication 561: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p561.pdf. Donors seeking deductions on noncash donations in excess of $500 must also file form 8283 (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8283.pdf).

Object Identification:

The Dickinson Museum Center will, on occasion, assist individuals with the identification of an object, and its related history, independent of monetary value.  This research, depending on the object and what is already known about it, can take a great deal of time away from the regular responsibilities of the museum staff.  Any research undertaken on the behalf of individuals is subject to a research fee of $15 per hour.