Open Forum

Hello,

We are organizing a traveling exhibit featuring artifacts from a WWII Japanese American internment site. We are having a hard time assigning insurance values to the objects. I have heard a variety of things to consider - cost of the field school the objects were collected, market value (which doesn't really apply here), cost of conservation/restoration, even pro-rated travel and salary for the faculty leading the field school.

Does anyone have a certain formula they use to value these type of objects (or any archaeological objects)? Or have an experience they would like to share?

Thank you!

Brooke Rohde

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Brooke Rohde
Curator of Collections
Museum of Anthropology, University of Denver
Denver CO
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Our policy is to value the item at current market value plus the costs of conservation.  Ted L. Gragg, South Carolina Civil War Museum

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Ted Gragg
South Carolina Civil War Museum
Myrtle Beach SC
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I asked this question many years ago & the answer I received, from a large museum with extensive archaeological collections, was they based the value on what it would cost -- in today's dollars -- to put a crew in the field & excavate the artifacts.  If conservation was required, it too should be included.  If there are any ongoing storage costs associated with maintaining the collection I think they too should be included in that number.  Sorry, no magic formula :).

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Susan Maltby, Conservator
Toronto ON
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