As a dinosaur bone appraiser I have to say, good question.  I appraise many 
things that are considered endangered or protected species, fossils, 
shipwreck recovered artifacts etc.  There are a lot of things that need to 
be valued in the real world that we (remember my first and favorite 
profession is Registrar-of-the-World)  would rather hide under the bed and 
avoid the whole "filthy lucre" aspect.  Doing appraisals for the "gripper" 
is my favorite: appraisals of stolen items so that the legal system can 
decide between misdemeanor or felony and charitable donation so that the 
item will land in a home where it will be preserved and available to all top 
my list of good work.  Market and Fair Market value so that divorcing 
couples or heirs can divide the goods equitably is ok work since the items 
aren't going directly into the market.

 I detest market value appraisals so that someone can sell dubious 
material -- material that I feel belongs to "us" and shouldn't be sold. 
Insurance work is alright. I am lucky in that I have never had to support 
myself totally (thanks to my hubby) and could afford to have principles. 
There are plenty of "appraisers" with no ethics that give the rest of us a 
bad name.  Since personal property appraisers (v. real estate) are not 
licensed, we can run wild in the streets and that's why is it is critical to 
hire or recommend a trained and tested appraiser. (See the International 
Society of Appraisers or American Society of Appraisers).

Appraising contraband (illegal to own) materials is a very interesting 
delimma.  My professional society teaches that if there is no legal market, 
there is no value.  The Fish and Wildlife Service, on the other hand, has 
black market values for a lot of species they are charged to protect and use 
those values in court work.

I will get off the soap box now since you are all busy but want to add to 
this discussion list when I can and do so in hopes that you learn something 
about the appraisal world.  As a Registrar, the word "appraiser" was to be 
avoided at all costs (fingers in ears and saying la,la,la loudly)and so I 
remained ignorant about even the basic concepts. I am old now and think it 
is ok to try to sneak some concepts in on you all ocassionally.   Sara 
Conklin, ISA CAPP  PH: 800-464-4208 [log in to unmask] 

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).