Collecting Antique Prints and Antique Maps

Antique prints and maps need not be expensive.
It's evident from attending auctions and antique fairs, that people of all ages and from all walks of life love antiques. Collecting antiques is not a hobby for only the wealthy. Antique prints and maps can cost as little as $30 – or as much as $30,000. It's not necessary to spend a large amount of money to buy something of value that you can treasure.

Love it and you won't want to lose it.
Spend some time, choose carefully, and you will find something that will give you years of enjoyment. The artwork on your wall could be enjoyed in a rented apartment, and then taken to a more expensive home in years to come. Framed well, they look good with both traditional and modern architecture, - and if styles change and you still enjoy your artwork, have it framed in another style.

Collecting antique maps and prints can be addictive.
Find out as much as you can about something you like. Find out where and why the antique map or print was published, and understand the effort that went into its production. Once you appreciate the finer artistic detail, the method of its creation, and its rarity as an original print, you will probably be interested in others as well.

Historic Record.
Antique Maps have a more obvious historic value as the country, state and town names, delineated borders, and coastlines changed over the years. Here in Australia, our coastlines were among the last to be charted, so they show more interesting changes over the past few hundred years. Someone who “gets the bug” of collecting antique maps is often said to have acquired “Map Pox”.

Antique Prints, in particular those created from the sketches on early voyages of exploration, tell us a lot about the acceptance (or lack of acceptance) of unfamiliar scenes, flora, fauna and peoples from foreign lands. When the artist was a scientist with good artistic ability, the result became quite important historically, when it was published to circulate new discoveries or knowledge. However, if the artist was challenged by not only limited artistic ability but also the movement or changes of the subject viewed, strange and equally collectable images result. Often these were published because no one else knew any better, so 'misinformation' was equally circulated..
Benefits of Collecting.
In most cases, the enjoyment derived from the fascination of an antique map or print, can be combined with its appreciating value, to also provide enrichment when selling it. However, in poor economic times it is usually not wise to expect to make a profit when selling, unless you have been fortunate and either inherited an item or bought extremely well. As with all commodities, the full financial value of items is usually not be realized when sold during poor economic times - unless a buyer particularly wants an item and it is not usually available, or unless the item is of particular special historic importance, in which case wealthy collectors or Institutions would most likely be the only interested buyers at full value. If you wish to sell or 'trade up' for your collection of antique maps and prints, it would be wiser to wait until the economy improves.