Introduction

As well as providing a value for individual items, there may be times when an entire collection has to be valued. If the collection already has a global value, it may be fairly simple to update the figures, depending on how much you think values have increased (or decreased) since the last valuation. Increases in value may vary for different areas of the collection, depending on what has happened in the market since the last assessment. Specific key items may have increased significantly.

Most heritage collections are not listed as assets in the organisation's accounts and are seen as separate from operational assets such as buildings, furniture and computers. Even commercial organisations often list their art and cultural collections as ‘non-realisable assets’ and ring-fence them from the rest of the company. Libraries or archives may be impossible to value because of the large number of items and so an approximate global figure must be reached. Even key objects may amount to tens of thousands of items in a large collection.

Semi-public institutions such as universities, learned societies and charities generally do not list cultural collections in monetary terms. There is often an unwritten rule that cultural collections form part of the heritage of an organisation and as such, should not be considered in financial terms. Archives and libraries are valued for their research potential rather than financial benefit. Keeping heritage collections off the balance sheet may also help prevent their potential sale to finance other parts of the organisation.

Some organisations, however, are required to produce a total value for accounting purposes or simply for information. Producing a global value may happen once or might be required at regular intervals, such as in an annual statement of assets.

There are many examples of recent valuation of an unvalued or partially valued collection leading to a sale. This may have caused some reluctance in disclosing values or in undertaking valuation at all. While this threat may never go away, responsible institutions will be open and transparent about their reasons for seeking a global valuation and will keep staff informed. If there is any intention of disposal, it should be done ethically, after all possibilities have been investigated and according to a policy or in accordance with guidelines such as the UK Museums Association's Deaccession and Disposal guidelines.