Amber Listserv / amber holotypes

Wed Oct 4 14:24:40 EDT 2006

Hi All,

Thanks Hans for this new perspective on valuation.  I've never heard of that
before.  I'm left scratching my head with what does this mean to the serious
collector such as myself...

Does the loss of commercial value due to not being able to sell a holotype
arise from International Code or individual museum by-laws?  What does a
museum expect to pay for an obvious holotype (such as a unique ant in
Burmite) that has not yet been described and designated a holotype?  Would
they have to pay the commercial value of this specimen to secure the piece,
which would be assumed to be high given what it is?  Understandably, the
best solution is for the individual owning the piece to simply donate.  But
when they have spent a lot of money securing the piece for science, where
does that leave them?  Many of the people that I know that have donated
specimens are also amber dealers, so it really isn't a financial loss to
them (I'm sure they may have a different opinion!).  But for the pure
collector, it is a different story.

Maybe it all comes down to people shouldn't be collecting scientifically
important specimens, but that is a whole other topic to deal with...

I understand what is being said and even agree with it on a fundamental
level.  I'm just wondering why the drastic step to reduce the value to
nothing?  I don't expect to make any real money when my specimens end up in
a museum, but if I spent $1000 outbidding other collectors for the piece to
secure it for science, I'd expect to at least get back what I paid.  From
what I can tell, museums are willing to pay money for collections.  I'm just
getting confused over the holotype issue.

I was always under the impression that a holotype was more valuable as it is
the unique designation of that creature being described.  In general, I
thought that commercial value of an amber specimen increased with
identification (from a rough scale perspective, ignoring other factors).
For instance, an as yet unidentified termite in Burmite may be worth $10-20
in the cut and polished phase.  Once preliminarily identified as a termite,
it's value increases to say $100-200.  But, if identified by a professional
to be a holotype and new genera (or whatever) the price then goes up to
$1000-2000.  But, it would appear that to a museum and other public
institutions, it would be considered worthless?

How does a museum assess the value of a piece for insurance purposes?  I'm
sure that museums must have some sort of value on pieces when they are sent
out for study (at least during the transportation process).  Is it based on
the commercial value of replacement (assuming that it can be replaced)?  How
about when museums sell collections to other museums?

Don't get me wrong.  I'm just trying to figure it all out.  Maybe I'm
missing something.  This is all good conversation, particularly since I own
many pre-holotype Burmite specimens.

Maybe the implication that a holotype cannot be sold is outdated and needs
to be re-addressed.

Just some questions and thoughts,

Scott Anderson

  _____  

From: amber-bounces at ambericawest.com [mailto:amber-bounces at ambericawest.com]
On Behalf Of Keith Luzzi
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 10:18 AM
To: cavexplorer at gmail.com
Cc: amber at ambericawest.com
Subject: Re: Amber Listserv / amber holotypes

Thanks Hans well said. 

regards
__________________________
Keith Luzzi
email:    keith.luzzi at db.com

"Hans Henderickx" <cavexplorer at gmail.com> 
Sent by: amber-bounces at ambericawest.com 

10/04/2006 08:40 AM 

To
<amber at ambericawest.com> 

cc

Subject
Amber Listserv / amber holotypes

Concerning the deposition of described unique amber type specimens in musea:
it is recommended and requested by most editors that the holotype of a
described new species remains under access by the public in an official
museum, that implies that it canot be sold any more. The specimen is
'deposited' and gets a 'museum registration number' so it can be traced at
all times. The museum is than the 'location of the holotype', but it cannot
be sold by that museum nor by its legal owner so it looses his commercial
value. 

If a designated specimen would not be 'deposited' it would remain in the
commercial circuit, and after a wile it will be lost (in an unknow drawer, a
jewel box or a necklass). At that point there is a risk that people will
start wondering if it even existed, since only drawings or pictures are left
in an eventual publication. 

There is no solution for the loss of commercial value. Even if the 'finder'
is still the owner he cannot sell it any more after a holotype is
designated. There is no point in forcing a museum to buy a holotype, because
it has no commercial value after description and the museum cannot sell it.
In fact the museum offers a service by registring, keeping it save and
taking care for it, and putting it on display or availeble for loan.   

The Baltic fossil scorpion Palaeospinobithus cenozoicus and fossil
pseudoscorpions Geogarypus gorskii and Pseudogarypus pangaea are all amber
holotype specimens that I described and afterwards deposited 'for free' in a
museum. I could have left them in my drawer with the other pieces or sold
them, but than their scientific value would probably have been lost. 

Hans Henderickx_______________________________________________
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