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Collectible Antique
Antiques - When Is An Object Considered An Antique And Not A Collectible?
It has always been a puzzle to me when an object, somewhat aged, can be termed an antique.
Must it be really very old- perchance in excess of 100 years to be called an antique? Or just when can we call an object an antique?
After all, we very loosely use the term antique for any object that has lived past its popularity.
A lady's coach handbag that was in vogue in summer, is now called an antique in winter!
In the days of the British Empire where the British had their conquests in far away worlds and colonised numerous territories, they left behind many legacies of worth. British systems of government, british designs and most of all british products and goods which now can rightly be called antiques and their systems "antiquated" at this time. Thus when I discovered a really old looking lock with the logo of the maker stamped onto it and marked "Warranted Best English Made" and " Warranted Secure" amidst some old material possession inherited from my deceased father who lived through the colonial period, I thought the lock must really be an antique.
So when is an antique really an antique?
The definition of antique varies from location to location, product to product and year to year.
In any case, universal common definitions of antiques adopted worldwide consider an item which is at least 75 years old and has unique features to enable it to be collected or kept as worthy due to it being rare, or useful is believed an antique.
Broadly, cars are considered antiques in the U.S. if they are older than 25 years. In Essex, however, I learnt that cars are eligible for an antique tag after 30 years. Guitars are only considered vintage if they were made before 1972.
In the UK anything over 75 years old commonly qualifies as an antique. A car is known as a collectible "classic" rather than an antique after 25 years.
There is an implied line between antiques and collectibles in the United States as well. An item is tagged as an antique by most reliable commercialised antique dealers if it is more than 100 years old, even though the general common understanding is 75 years, and anything less than 100 years is called a collectible.
It is not always the antiques that carries a higher price mark. Collectibles can be worth many times that of an antique. It all depends on the eyes of the beholder.
Peter Lim is a Certified Financial Planner. For more interesting details about antiques, and how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles, visit his website on Antique Resources at .
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