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How much is something worth? This is a common question that both buyers and sellers have been haggling over for centuries. Worth, simply defined, is what someone is willing to give for something. Worth cannot be confused with an asking price, selling price, or buying price. Worth, put in plain terms, is a relative term applied to both an item or items and individuals involved in a particular transaction.
 
How many times have you heard somebody say, this "whatsit worth $5,000-so-and-so told me it was"! Being told something is worth a specific value is meaningless if the person doing the appraisal has no knowledge of the item itself or the market for it. Not even an auction is an indicator of true "worth," since many existing factors can alter a price many times over. I recall being at an auction in which a common pocket watch, easily purchased in many places for about $40, sold for over $3,000.00! Was that a true indicator of real worth, or simply an example of emotional siblings wanting the same heirloom from their family-with the purchase price merely being deducted from their inheritance proceeds! I doubt there was one more person on this planet that would have paid that much for the item-yet it was worth $3,000.00 to somebody. Unfortunately, when events such as that occur, others with similar goods mistakenly assume that they, too, can sell their similar goods for similar prices-and that is about as big of a mistake as is possible in the collectible business.
 
Real worth, from a professional appraisal perspective, is what you can assume you can get for an item under normal circumstances, based on the existing market demand and condition of the item itself. Historical association will add a certain premium to a targeted market as well, but sentimental value is basically meaningless, unless you are the prospective buyer.

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