Buy, Keep or Sell?

by Judith H. Miller, Mark Hill

Focusing on the most popular types of affordable collectibles, this helpful handbook for collectors contains up-to-date valuations of objects based on real prices from dealers, looks at collectibles and designers from a historical and cultural context, and offers practical advice on how to identify, value, and determine whether or not to buy, keep, or sell a collectible.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2005

About the author

Judith Henderson Miller began collecting in the 1960s while a student at Edinburgh University in Scotland. She had since extended and reinforced her knowledge through international research, becoming one of the world’s leading experts in the field. In 1979 she co-founded the best-selling Miller’s Antiques Price Guide and has since written more than 100 books, covering antiques, collectibles, architecture and interior design.

Judith was an expert on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, and had also appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and CNN. She was a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, including Financial Times, The Telegraph, BBC Homes & Antiques and House & Garden. She lectured extensively, including at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Smithsonian in Washington.
She died in April 2023

Reviews

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather fun overview of all things collectible. But it did start to wear on my nerves after a while. For one thing, its purpose seems a bit duplicitous; I mean, it comes across like this insider's guide to pricing ups and downs and market savvy, while it also serves as an absolute beginner's course in all and sundry. And the compendiousness becomes a demerit in places: devoting only a couple pages each to Stamps and Coins came off a bit silly (perhaps she should've focused a bit longer on art glass or something else more up her alley). And the general intros were often pretty airheaded and the tips were sometimes rather inane ("Pieces with colossal huge rips in them will tend to decrease the value"). And that's another annoying thing: the constant PBSiness of the whole presentation (referring to everything as a "piece," eg, which is also a pain in the neck on Antiques Roadshow, and using Poshie phrases like "naive charm"). Then there's the modern-day Wieniness factor, with statements like: "Smoking memorabilia is likely to appeal only to a comparatively small group due to its unhealthy, antisocial connotations" (lol). Oh yeah, and I had a tough time determining in practice the difference between the BUY and KEEP categories. But anyway, has lots of pictures of fun stuff to gawk at (which is the real bottom line with such a piece, I guess). :)