Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 3, 1993 TAG: 9305010027
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In a world where people seek a future financial bonanza by saving household junk or buying dolls and medallions, Jacobson focuses on a variation of the good-better-best adage.
Items that invariably retain their value, she said, fall across the range of " fine, medium fine and museum grade."
Some other experts agree with her.
In his book "Money Guide," Fortune magazine editor Marshall Loeb said many companies offering limited-edition collectibles "tend to exaggerate their investment value."
He estimated that only 30 percent of people who offer to resell their plates ever get a bid for them, while only 10 percent of medallions bring in more than the cost of the silver or gold they contain.
Even the market for rare coins, he warned, is "fickle and subject to the rapidly changing whims of investors."
Loeb offered four hints for people who buy limited editions of so-called collectibles such as plates, books, medallions or china dolls:
"Buy only what you love." If you have to live with your plates for 20 years because there's no market for them, at least you will enjoy looking at them.
Avoid limited editions by companies that sell to anyone who orders within a certain period of time, such as six months or a year. That arrangement kills potential for a resale market because every interested person can order the stuff. Instead, buy from a company that announces in advance the number of items constituting the edition.
Buy the finest material and craftsmanship you can afford.
Keep the original box and don't use the item. You can't hope to sell a doll that your children play with or a plate that you use for eating. The market demands items be in mint condition.
Jacobson, who is certified by the Appraisers Association of America, said the best investments in collectibles are fine arts, antiques, decorative arts and jewelry.
These are not items you pick up in just any store. The furniture, for instance, can't be found in a department store. Nor is a mass-produced grandfather clock a financial investment.
Jacobson said furniture destined to become heirlooms is available only from specialty merchants, generally in markets such as New York or London, and for a lot of money.
In jewelry, you must look for period and contemporary designer pieces.
"Design jewelry is very special," Jacobson said. "Not all design jewelry is very fine . . . You have to have an eye for it."
Jacobson, who performs appraisals for estate and insurance purposes in this region, said heirloom items have four characteristics: They have an ability to withstand time, they generally are not available, they exhibit a high level of workmanship and show artisanship. That means the item was hand-crafted, she said, but the description encompasses "a myriad" of different things.
The characteristics are unrelated to the expense of the item, she said.
Jacobson said rarity is a factor, along with design, beauty, workmanship and - most important of all - design that "carries the weight of time. It outlives its time."
People can find such items in Western Virginia, she said "if you know what you're doing."
"You never finish learning," Jacobson said of collecting and appraising. "You read, study, work on it. You touch and you feel."
by CNB