Hi, Mai,
Legal and ethical concerns: you say the phonograph had been once in your 
historic buildings. Was it reaccessioned or stolen? The owner claims to 
be the owner, but can she proof her claim? Have you found out the reason 
why she does not want it to be appraised? Are you absolutely shure that 
this item is really the one described in former inventories?

Why selling the phonograph to the original owner, why not making a  
donation?

In our country it is up to museums to make an offer after checking the 
trading value, not to the owner. But this does not mean that museums are 
willing to pay the trading value. Very often less. But what is "the 
trading value"? Normally the question is answered by "the usual price at 
auction" for such an object. "Usual" is quite often the average of 
recent hammer prices. Look carefully if the items are comparable, also 
with ref. to their condition (many of them are repainted and restored 
with new material or even converted into more valuable models or 
phantasy objects). So be shure to get an original in good condition.
Hope this helps.
Best


Christian
MUSEUM AKTUELL / ExpoTime!
Munich, Germany


Am 01.08.2012 16:39, schrieb Mai Vang:
>
> Hello! Our museum may purchase a phonograph that was originally in one 
> of our historic buildings; however we do not know how much value it 
> is. The owner is leaving the state and does not wish to have it 
> appraised. We directed her to an antique pricing guide website that we 
> found on Google. She gave us an asking price and before we make an 
> offer, my question is, was that not what we should have done? Are 
> there ethical or legal concerns that we should be worried about for 
> this instance? Any insight will be greatly appreciated!
>
> *--*
>
> **
>
> *Mai Vang
> *Curator
>
> *Minnesota Discovery Center*
>
> 218.254.1238 |  800.372.6437
>
> www.MNdiscoverycenter.com <http://www.mndisoverycenter.com/>
>
> Facebook 
> <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minnesota-Discovery-Center/107894046196>| 
> Blog <http://minndiscoverycenter.blogspot.com/>| _Upcoming Events 
> <http://mndiscoverycenter.com/calendar>_| _Become a Member! 
> <http://www.mndiscoverycenter.com/membership>_
>
> __
>
> *Telling the Story of the Iron Range ~*
>
> The Land.  The Mines.  The People.  The Work.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:
> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1
>


-- 
*Verlag Dr. C. Müller-Straten - Spezialverlag für Museum und Restaurierung
Ansprechpartner für inhaltliche Fragen: Dr. Adelheid Straten, Dr. 
Christian Müller-Straten; für kaufmännische Fragen: Dr. Christian 
Müller-Straten.
T. +49-(0)89 839 690-43, Fax -44, [log in to unmask]
MUSEUM AKTUELL, ExpoTime!, Shop und grosses europäisches Museumsportal: 
http://www.museum-aktuell.de*
/Verlag Dr. C. Mueller-Straten - Publishing company for museums and 
conservation
Editorial contact: Adelheid Straten, Ph.D; trade contacts: Christian 
Mueller-Straten, Ph.D.
T. 0049-(0)89-839 690 43, Fax 0049-(0)89-690 44, [log in to unmask]
MUSEUM AKTUELL, ExpoTime!, shop and the large European museum portal: 
http://www.museum-aktuell.de
*Reading the new global museum magazine "ExpoTime!" is free of charge. 
Registration: 
http://www.museum-aktuell.de/shop/themes/kategorie/detail.php?artikelid=75&source=2*/*

*

=========================================================
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).