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Book Condition Grading Standards - Certified Appraisals: - start at $10 per book or paper
collectible/ephemera (and up), or $100.00 per hour for large collections or
house calls (including local area travel time) plus mileage,
and associated expenses. This is a mandatory personal examination of
book properties by the appraiser to accurately determine condition,
pagination, edition, rarity, demand, provenance/association value or other
unique factors that could affect book value, such as signs of alteration or
rebinding of the original material. - The personal examination is followed by a written report that specifies sources used to determine value, including book auction records (foreign and domestic), sales records, price guides, bibliographies, dealer catalogs, publishers records, and additional data. Also included is an evaluation of the condition of each book property, wherein a condition grade is given. - The Fair Market Value of each book property is determined, valid for a period of two years, using the Market Data Comparison method accepted by the Appraisal Foundation, the American Society of Appraisers and the Internal Revenue Service. Applicable IRS Publications include 526, 547, 561, and 2194. We follow the 2012-2013 Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) of The Appraisal Foundation. Clausen Books is not currently a member of the American Society of Appraisers, however we support and promote the Principles of Appraisal Practice and Code of Ethics of the American Society of Appraisers. - We perform only certified appraisals Estate/Probate
Valuations, Charitable Donations, no "on-line" appraisals or informal "price-guesstimates" performed Call 719-471-5884 or toll-free 1-888-412-7717 We
follow and abide by the code of ethics and standards of the Rocky
Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association, The American Society of
Appraisers (ASA) and The
Appraisal Foundation - authorized by the U.S. Congress as the source
of Appraisal Standards and
Appraisal Qualifications. The
Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation has promulgated the Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) which is
regularly reviewed and updated. We are strict adherents to the USPAP, with emphasis on Standards Rules 7 & 8 which address personal property, whose purpose is “to promote and maintain a high level of public trust in appraisal practice by establishing requirements for appraisers.” These requirements promote and encourage professionalism and integrity in the used and rare book industry. We appraise single titles or entire collections. The appraisal includes written documentation that may be used for estate/probate, tax deductible contribution, personal/resale and insurance purposes. - Valuations are based upon proven methods of investigating and determining fair market value. An extensive library of bibliographic resources, auction records, price guides, and other sources of information collected over a 50-year period make our appraisal process more than a mere comparison and contrast of prices on the Internet. - Book grading standards used include those established by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, the Rocky Mountain Antiquarian Booksellers Association, The Library of Congress, The Manuscript Society, The Independent On-Line Booksellers Association, and The Antiquarian Bookman. Book Appraisal Policy Unless otherwise stated, all appraisals conducted by
Clausen Books are for the purpose of determining the fair market value of
book properties that have been personally examined by our appraisers, and evaluated
for condition, rarity, desirability, provenance and resale.
The fair market value (FMV) of a book property is that amount which a willing
seller may reasonably be expected to charge and a willing buyer may be
expected to pay, when neither is compelled to do so and both are aware of all
the facts related to the book and its sale. The fair market
value of a book is NOT the price a seller will receive when offering the
book directly to a book dealer. Clausen Books will not and cannot purchase, or take on
consignment, any book property that has been appraised by us. This
policy is for our protection as well as that of the owner of the book
property. This insures an accurate and ethical "disinterested
third-party" appraisal. Appraisals are not conducted contingent upon the
appraised value of the book or book collection (charging an appraisal fee
based on a percentage of the appraised value). This is an unethical
practice and is forbidden by the IRS, ASA and the Appraisal Foundation. It must be clearly understood that the fair market value of a book not be confused with its replacement cost. Book values change over time,
and knowledgeable dealers establish prices dependent upon supply and
demand. At times the replacement cost of a book may exceed or fall
short of the appraised fair market value of the book, dependent upon the
locale of the book dealer, or time elapsed since the appraisal. With the advent of the internet global
bookseller, many books have become easier to locate, which in some instances
has caused book prices to fluctuate above and below their actual retail
value. Thousands of new, amateur book dealers are now selling
books on the internet, having little or no knowledge of books or actual book
values. This has at times resulted in huge price differences among
dealers for the same book. It is for this reason that we base our
appraisals not only on current market indicators, but also on solidly
established book values as determined by, current industry value guides, long-established
rare book dealer catalogs, bibliographies, collectors guides, book auction
records, and thousands of other sources of collected book value
data. We have one of the largest and most in-depth bibliographic
resource libraries in Colorado Springs, having collected appraisal data for
over 50 years.
Appraisals include an evaluation of book condition, often the most important but frequently overlooked factor in determining book property value. We grade books according to long-established standards set by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, the Library of Congress, the Manuscript Society, the Antiquarian Bookman, and by Henry A. Clausen, who founded Clausen’s Bookshop in 1946.
The IRS requires
that the condition of personal property be described in all appraisal
reports. For report purposes, or when listing a book on the internet, in a
catalog or brochure, we grade books according to the following standards: Very Fine -The highest rating assigned to a book
is Very Fine- abbreviated VF in most catalogs and on the
internet. It is rarely used, as it requires that a book and its dust
jacket (dj) be absolutely flawless, and perfectly pristine, without even the
slightest hint of a rubbed or bent edge to the wrapper, or lean to the
spine. Few books meet this rating, even most new books.
Manufacturing flaws, careless gluing or sewing at the bindery, may relegate a
new book to a less than VF category. Books in Very Fine condition
should never be casually handled or opened, although a careful bibliophile
can examine and read a VF copy without reducing its condition. Fine - Most new books that have not been
handled by the browsing public and are not marked, stamped, written in or
altered in any way, are initially rated Fine (F), provided their dust
wrappers also meet the criteria. A Fine copy may permissibly have
a slightly rubbed edge or tiny crease, and this must ALWAYS be identified,
but a torn edge or dirt smudge renders the book less than Fine.
Fine copies have no flaws, but are not as tight or ramrod straight as a VF
copy. Near Fine -These books have some minor flaw(s)
that keep them from being assigned to the Fine category. It is
generally permissible (except by the most stringent purists of book
collecting) to give a book a Fine rating and at the same time, down
grade its dust wrapper to Near Fine or lower, so that descriptions of
NF/NF, F/NF or F/VG+, may be routinely used. In ALL cases, flaws
must be described. This is especially important for expensive,
collectible books in Near Fine or better condition. To err on the side
of understatement rather than over-praise a book's condition is our policy. Very Good - These books have minor flaws that
are always identified. The overall condition of a book is taken into
consideration before being rated VG. These books have been read
several times, and have scuffed edges, bumped corners, but are
otherwise still tightly bound with no loose or dirty pages. A book
with a pristine book block (the contents from the first to the last page),
but with minor tears to the spine, worn edges, or small stains on an
otherwise clean unblemished binding, would be rated as VG or even VG+,
if the defects are minor enough. Very clean and tight (relating to the
binding) ex-library books, that are stamped, labeled, or marked in the usual
manner by librarians, are graded as VG or VG+, depending upon the
crispness and cleanliness of the pages. When grading books in the VG
category, dust wrappers are graded SEPARATELY, and all flaws noted.
Common entries may be seen as VG/VG, VG+/VG, NF/VG+, and so on, with the
second set of letters related to the condition of the dust wrapper.
Books in the VG category are open to the most criticism Good - Books in Good (G) condition are worn,
usually inside and out, but all printed pages are present, and the binding is
intact. The book cloth may be worn through, pages may be torn, soiled,
marked on, or fragile, but the book will be perfectly readable. Thus,
it will usually be identified as a reading copy. Cloth bindings
are subject to wear and tear, stains, rips, rubbing, bumping to the corners,
and bending, but if they do their job of protecting the contents and keeping
the pages clean and intact, we rate the book as Good (G). Many
discarded library books meet this standard, and again we describe all
flaws. Fair to Poor - Books in this condition are very
worn, stained, ripped, unattractive, with broken or weak hinges and/or
spines. Pages and bindings may be missing, loose, or badly torn
or stained. Some children's titles end up in fair to poor
condition, but are so desirable to many collectors, that their condition
is forgiven. Books in other categories are not treated as kindly
and may have only salvage value. What is Fair Market Value? Fair Market Value- IRS Publication 561, page 2, defines Fair
Market Value as “the price that property would sell for on the open
market. It is the price that would be agreed on between a willing buyer
and a willing seller, with neither being required to act, and both having
reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts.” _______________________________________________________________________________________ Applicable Internal Revenue Service Publications available at http://www.irs.gov/ Publication 526, Charitable Contributions (2011 Edition) Publication 561, Determining The Value of Donated Property (Revision 04/2007). Internal Revenue Bulletin 2006-46, issued Nov 13, 2006, Notice 2006_96 – Guidance Regarding Appraisal Requirements For Noncash Charitable Contributions (www.irs.gov/irb/2006-46_IRB/ar13.html ) Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts (2011) Publication 2194,
Rev. 2-2012 Disaster Losses Kit (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p2194.pdf
) ______________________________________________________________________________________ APPRAISAL CONSIDERATIONS The following general guidelines are not absolute or
set in stone, and are not all inclusive.
They are my opinions, and there will ALWAYS exceptions: Do Appraise - Original Source
books on travel, exploration, medicine, science, war, history. (Lewis & Clark, Freud, Capt. Cook,
Einstein, etc.) War diaries,
manuscripts, letters, or those related to significant historical events (American Civil War, World Wars I &
II). Large or significant collections of letters, diaries, documents in the
original hand of the author. Original
documents related to the beginning or early history of an area (i.e., a
Colorado gold camp); Documents of historical interest and/or importance. Books signed
& inscribed and/or annotated by the author or a significant historic or
literary figure; books with association value and/or provenance which may add
to the value. Books or
ephemera that straddle several genres of interest to collectors. For example, a book of literary anecdotes
from the early nineteenth century with a fore edge painting of a fly fisherman
on the bank of an English river. Firsts: The first book of aerial dog-fighting
tactics from World War One; the First
book of bowling, darts; The first
book on how to cook with a microwave oven;
The first book published for the WPA’s American Guide Series; The first edition of the first Nancy Drew
book; The First cookbook published by a former African-American slave; An author’s first book. Special
editions of illustrated books done by collectible illustrators such as N.C.
Wyeth, Harrison Fisher, Rockwell Kent, Picasso, Howard Pyle, and others. Even better if the book is a limited
printing and/or signed by the illustrator. Don’t Appraise - Books in poor
or less than good condition; incomplete books - missing bindings, pages,
maps, plates, Most
encyclopedias, modern dictionaries, reference books, textbooks, books whose
information expires or changes all the time. Most unsigned modern
fiction, especially reprints, book club editions, copies lacking the dust
jacket; Many, if not most,
retired library books, especially fiction. Most self help,
religious and inspirational titles;
How-to and craft titles, Antique price guides. Reprints of the
Classics, Poetry, History, Travel Most Holy
Bibles, except for the scarce and/or rare editions. See my chronology of the Bible. There are exceptions to all of the
above categories _______________________________________________________________________________ Definitions from the
2012-2013 USPAP “Appraisal:
(noun) “the act or process of developing an opinion of value. (adjective) of
or pertaining to appraising and related functions such as appraisal practice or appraisal services …An appraisal must
be numerically expressed as a specific amount, as a range of numbers, or as a
relationship (e.g. not more than, not less than) to a previous value opinion
or benchmark (e.g., assessed value, collateral value). “Appraiser:
one who is expected to perform valuation services competently and in a manner
that is independent, impartial, and objective. Comment: Such
expectation occurs when individuals, either by choice or by requirement
placed upon them or upon the service they provide by law, regulation, or agreement
with the client or intended users, represent that they comply. “Personal Property:
identifiable tangible objects that are considered by the general public as
being “personal” – for example, furnishings, artwork, antiques, gems and
jewelry, collectibles, machinery and equipment; all tangible property that is
not classified as real estate “ Written Reports In accordance with USPAP Standards Rule 8-2 (line 2018, page U-62),
each written appraisal report is prepared under one of the following three
options, prominently stated as: 1) Self-Contained Appraisal Report, 2) Summary Appraisal Report, or 3)
Restricted Use Appraisal Report.
Contact us for further information and clarification. Qualifications My
qualifications as a rare book appraiser are as follows: My wife Pam and
I own and operate a rare and used bookshop in Colorado Springs, Colorado
which, begun by my father Henry A. Clausen, has been a Clausen family-run
business since 1946. I worked for my father learning the used and rare
book and ephemera trade, including appraisals, beginning in 1965 and have
been involved with the rare book business since then. I am a graduate
of the Antiquarian Bookmarket Seminar given at Colorado College and conducted
by past presidents and leading members of the Antiquarian Booksellers
Association of America. I
was certified as an expert witness for the prosecution during a 2005 military
Article 32 Board, which led to the court martial of a service member accused
of stealing high-value rare books from a military library. My appraisal
went unchallenged and along with other evidence led to a plea of guilty and
the defendant’s dismissal from the service. I am a former member of the
Board of Directors of the Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District and in
that capacity I ran the quarterly book sales, and was the board's
treasurer. I am the current Deputy Sheriff of the Pikes Peak Posse of
the Westerners, an historical organization founded over 25 years ago, and I
also head the Colorado Springs Ghost Town Club, founded by local historians
in 1946. Pam and I are members in good standing of the Rocky Mountain
Antiquarian Booksellers Association (RMABA), and I am the association’s
current president. RMABA has members in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming
and Utah. I am also a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado
Springs chapter of A New Deal For the New Deal, an historical association
dedicated to preserving the legacy of the federal government’s New Deal
programs of the 1930s and 40s. Pam, a
retired educator and reference librarian, was the co-chair of the 2006 Rocky
Mountain Book and Paper Fair. She is
also the editor of a history of her hometown, Rosemount Minnesota. We
began independently appraising and selling used books on the internet in
1998, and have had an open shop at our present location since 2000.
Since 1998, I estimate that we have appraised close to $1.1 million worth of
used and rare books and ephemera. I am a life-long student of classic
literature, American History, bibliography and the history of the book,
having now amassed a reference library of over 1,000 volumes I routinely use
in the course of daily business. I am registered with the Appraisal
Foundation of Washington, D.C., and my appraisals comply with the 2012-2013
Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), and IRS
Publications 561 and 526. _______________________________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY Some of
our clients include financial institutions, colleges and universities,
private and public libraries and museums, the Department of Defense, private
collectors and/or donors, collegiate athletic associations, law firms, and
non-profit organizations. We do not
disclose information about our clients, or their identity to the general
public or to persons or agencies not having the legal right to this
information. Pursuant to the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999,
numerous agencies have adopted privacy regulations. Such regulations are
focused on the protection of information provided by consumers to those
involved in financial activities “found to be closely related to banking or
usual in connection with the transaction of banking.” These activities have been deemed to
include “appraising real or personal property.” (Quotations are from the
Federal Trade Commission, Privacy of Consumer Financial Information; Final
Rule, 16 CFR Part 313.) reviewed and updated 5/08/2012 |
