a restored glass-plate photo of Lincoln – worth a million? Image courtesy of Kovels Auction Trader
Toronto. Like many antiques, old photographs tend to appreciate with age. The value of a specific photograph depends on many factors: condition, process used, subject (famous? pedestrian? newsworthy? etc.), current interest, studio, turnover, …
A note from past president, sports photographer, and author, Les Jones , titled, “Driving up the price of a Lincoln” contains only the glass-plate photo of Mr Lincoln with a link to Kovels Antique Trader website.
On the site, copy editor, “Elizabeth Heineman” wrote a brief article about this restored glass-plate image of a young Lincoln. Older members will recall a talk in 2002 by Grant Romer of GEH, who did the restoration. The plate comes from a portrait once used for a campaign poster. The plate to be auctioned was made decades after Mr Lincoln’s tragic death. While we ‘think’ as collectors of photos, other kinds of collectors might bid for this photo too such as collectors of Lincoln memorabilia, US Presidents memorabilia, etc. and feel the estimated price is indeed reasonable.
The surprising asking price before auction resonated with me in a way. In a recent post, I commented on the shift in value (see “t’row da book at him“) especially due to turnover (each ‘owner’ expects the item to appreciate).
In this case the subject is well known but I was surprise that a ‘restored’ glass plate photo would attract such a price from any collector group. Moral of the story – hang on to your photos of famous people (and visit our events this year as listed under PHSC EVENTS at right).
