Appraisals & Buying

STOP: Please do NOT call us or email us until you READ THIS PAGE.

Our company DOES NOT offer rare book appraisal services.

We CANNOT refer you to anyone else for rare book appraisal services.

This is because, due to recent changes in the law, (which have nearly eliminated the field of rare book appraisers), issuing appraisals of rare books exposes the appraiser to tremendous legal liability if that appraisal should be challenged subsequently.  We cannot even refer you to anyone else due to the possible liability of the referral.  

We ask that you please accept this, and respect this, and do not call or email us asking, “Can’t you just give me a rough idea of whether my Bible is valuable or not?”  We cannot.

Having said that, we can offer you the following general guidelines regarding the value of ancient Biblical printings, which we hope may be helpful in your research, whether you are seeking an appraisal or seeking to sell your Bible:

If your Bible was printed in the 1900’s, Read This:
There is almost no chance that it is worth more than $100, and most likely not more than $20. It’s just not old enough.  We would NOT be interested in purchasing Bibles printed in the 1900’s. Also, we could not “refer you to another dealer”, as we are not aware of anyone who deals in such material.  Please don’t be offended… we are sure it is a lovely Bible, and may have great sentimental value to you… but it has no significant “market value.”  There is no need to contact us regarding this type of Bible.  Again, please do not contact us about Bibles printed in the 1900’s, as we do not buy or sell Bibles printed in the 1900’s.  Thank you. 

If your Bible was printed in the 1800’s, Read This:
there is very little chance that it is worth more than $300, and most likely not more than $50. 
It’s just not old enough. Exceptions to this that are worthy of mention are:
• An 1843-1846 Harper Brothers N.Y. Illuminated Bible
• An 1841 English Hexapla Parallel New Testament
• An 1833 Noah Webster Bible
• An 1808 Jane Aitken Four-Volume Bible
• An 1800 Giant Macklin Bible Seven-Volume Set
We deal only in Bibles starting at $3,000 each and up, so we would NOT be interested in purchasing Bibles printed in the 1800’s (with the above listed exceptions).  Also, we could not “refer you to another dealer”, as we are not aware of anyone who deals in such material.
Please don’t be offended… we are sure it is a lovely Bible, and may have great sentimental value to you… but it has no significant “market value.”  There is no need to contact us regarding this type of Bible.  Again, please do not contact us about Bibles printed in the 1800’s, (except for the exceptions listed above), as we generally do not buy or sell Bibles printed the 1800’s Bibles.  Thank you. 

If your Bible was printed in the 1700’s, Read This:
If your Bible was printed in the 1700’s, AND it was printed IN AMERICA, it may be valuable if the pages are all present and in good condition.  If you wish to sell such a Bible click here.
If your Bible was printed in the 1700’s, and it was printed IN ENGLAND or ANY OTHER EUROPEAN NATION (Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, etc), it is unlikely that your Bible is worth more than a few hundred dollars, because… believe it or not… as old as the “1700’s” may seem to you… that’s just not very early for a European printing. 
But, let’s go just one step further to clarify:
If your 1700’s England-or-European-Printed Bible is NOT in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE… there is virtually no chance that it is worth more than a few hundred dollars, and there is no need to contact us regarding this type of Bible.
If your 1700’s England-or-European-Printed Bible IS in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE… there is a chance that it might be valuable if it is a very large or ornately illustrated Bible. If, however, it is simply a plain, old, regular-size Bible from the 1700’s… that is really not old enough for such a Bible to be worth more than a few hundred dollars, and there is no need to contact us about this type of Bible. 

If your Bible was printed in the 1600’s, or 1500’s, or 1400’s, Read This:
If your Bible was printed in the 1600’s or 1500’s or 1400’s, it may be valuable if it is complete and the pages are in good condition. ENGLISH language Bibles of the 1600’s and 1500’s are particularly in demand.  If you wish to sell such a Bible click here.
GERMAN and LATIN language Bibles printed in the 1600’s, usually have little market value. For a German or Latin Bible to be of great value, it really needs to be from the 1500’s or earlier, with the pages complete and in good condition.

If you DO NOT KNOW when your Bible was printed, Read This:
The date of printing, and place of printing, and printers name, and type of Bible, are most frequently found PRINTED on at least one of the following three places:
1 The General Title Page (just before Genesis Chapter One)
2 The New Testament Title Page (just before Matthew Chapter One)
3 The Colophon (the last page of scripture at Revelation 22).
Please note that ancient HAND-WRITTEN dates and family records commonly written inside Bibles do NOT tell us the date of printing of the Bible.
If your Bible does not have any Title Page or Colophon date… and you still cannot tell when it was printed, or you just don’t know what you have… then WE cannot help you.

We suggest that you take your Bible to the nearest MAJOR UNIVERSITY and ask for assistance from the Head Librarian or the Librarian in charge of Rare & Special Collections. The Librarian may be able to offer you “identification assistance” services or “authenticity verification” services, though they will not be able to appraise your Bible.  Please do NOT call us asking us to “help you figure out when your Bible was printed”, because that cannot be done over the phone or via email. Thank You!

Additionally, these links may be helpful to you:

Click Here for a brief discussion of the difference between “rare” and “valuable”.

Click Here if you THINK you have a “1611 King James Bible First Edition”. 

Click Here to review our Antique Bible Buyer’s Guide

And of course… if you just want a general idea of the market price value of many different types of ancient Bibles; there is no need to call or email.  We have hundreds of ancient Bibles offered for sale, and priced, on our website, so by simply browsing our inventory, you can get that “general idea” of what ancient Bibles cost.  You can search them by Version, by Age, or by Size.  Just Click Here to Search Our Current Inventory.

If you have an ancient Bible and you want to discuss
selling your Bible to us…

It is very important that you carefully READ THIS PAGE, and please DO NOT call us and DO NOT email us just yet about the Bible you wish to sell us.  There is a simple procedure which must be followed.

We are flooded with inquires every day from people who want to sell us their Bible, and because over 90% of these Bibles are not of interest to us, and we have very limited staff to handle these inquiries, it is absolutely necessary to pre-qualify your Bible BEFORE you call or email us.

So, if you want to discuss selling your ancient Bible to us:

Selling Us Your Ancient Bible

We understand how great the temptation is to think “I don’t have time for all this”, and to pick up the phone and call us (or email us) saying, “Hey, I’ve got this old Bible I want to tell you about, and see if you want to buy it from me.”

We are asking you… please do not do that.

We are flooded with inquires every day from people who want to sell us their Bible, and because over 90% of these Bibles are not of interest to us, and we have very limited staff to handle these inquiries, it is absolutely necessary to pre-qualify your Bible BEFORE you call or email us.

Offering your Bible for sale to us is a quick and easy process, involving just two simple steps.

STEP ONE is to read the one paragraph below about the century in which your Bible was printed, to see if your Bible might be of any significant value.  Most people never have to go past Step One.  Step One will take you LESS THAN ONE MINUTE to do.  Please do it. 

Then, if applicable, proceed to STEP TWO, and answer just a few basic questions about your Bible.  It is not necessary to email us any photographs.  

It is that simple!  Ready?  Let’s begin…

STEP ONE:  PRE-QUALIFYING THE BIBLE YOU WISH TO SELL

You do not have to read all of this… just skip down to the CENTURY in which your Bible was printed, and read only that one little section.  It takes less than one minute.

If your Bible was printed in the 1900’s, Read This:
There is almost no chance that it is worth more than $100, and most likely not more than $20. It’s just not old enough.  We would NOT be interested in purchasing Bibles printed in the 1900’s. Also, we could not “refer you to another dealer”, as we are not aware of anyone who deals in such material.  Please don’t be offended… we are sure it is a lovely Bible, and may have great sentimental value to you… but it has no significant “market value.” There is no need to contact us regarding this type of Bible.  Again, please do not contact us about Bibles printed in the 1900’s, as we do not buy or sell Bibles printed in the 1900’s.  Thank you. 

If your Bible was printed in the 1800’s, Read This:
There is very little chance that it is worth more than $300, and most likely not more than $50. 
It’s just not old enough. Exceptions to this that are worthy of mention are:
• An 1843-1846 Harper Brothers N.Y. Illuminated Bible
• An 1841 English Hexapla Parallel New Testament
• An 1833 Noah Webster Bible
• An 1808 Jane Aitken Four-Volume Bible
• An 1800 Giant Macklin Bible Seven-Volume Set
We deal only in Bibles starting at $3,000 each and up, so we would NOT be interested in purchasing Bibles printed in the 1800’s (with the above listed exceptions).  Also, we could not “refer you to another dealer”, as we are not aware of anyone who deals in such material.
Please don’t be offended… we are sure it is a lovely Bible, and may have great sentimental value to you… but it has no significant “market value.” There is no need to contact us regarding this type of Bible.  Again, please do not contact us about Bibles printed in the 1800’s, (except for the exceptions listed above), as we generally do not buy or sell Bibles printed in the 1800’s.  Thank you. 

If your Bible was printed in the 1700’s, Read This:
If your Bible was printed in the 1700’s, AND it was printed IN AMERICA, it may be valuable if the pages are all present and in good condition. If you wish to sell a Bible printed IN AMERICA in the 1700’s, proceed below to STEP TWO.
If your Bible was printed in the 1700’s, and it was printed IN ENGLAND or ANY OTHER EUROPEAN NATION (Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, etc), it is unlikely that your Bible is worth more than a few hundred dollars, because… believe it or not… as old as the “1700’s” may seem to you… that’s just not very early for a European printing. 
But, let’s go just one step further to clarify:
If your 1700’s England-or-European-Printed Bible is NOT in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE… there is virtually no chance that it is worth more than a few hundred dollars, and there is no need to contact us regarding this type of Bible.
If your 1700’s England-or-European-Printed Bible IS in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE… there is a chance that it might be valuable if it is a very large or ornately illustrated Bible. If, however, it is simply a plain, old, regular-size Bible from the 1700’s… that is really not old enough for such a Bible to be worth more than a few hundred dollars, and there is no need to contact us about this type of Bible. 

If your Bible was printed in the 1600’s, or 1500’s, or 1400’s, Read This:
If your Bible was printed in the 1600’s or 1500’s or 1400’s, it may be valuable if it is complete and the pages are in good condition. ENGLISH language Bibles of the 1600’s and 1500’s are particularly in demand.  If you wish to sell an English Bible of the 1600’s or 1500’s, proceed below to STEP TWO.

GERMAN and LATIN language Bibles printed in the 1600’s, usually have little market value. For a German or Latin Bible to be of great value, it really needs to be from the 1500’s or earlier, with the pages complete and in good condition.  SPANISH Bibles likewise need to be from the 1500’s to be of great value.  If you wish to sell a foreign language Bible from the 1500’s, proceed below to STEP TWO.

If you DO NOT KNOW when your Bible was printed, Read This:
The date of printing, and place of printing, and printers name, and type of Bible, are most frequently found PRINTED on at least one of the following three places:
1 The General Title Page (just before Genesis Chapter One)
2 The New Testament Title Page (just before Matthew Chapter One)
3 The Colophon (the last page of scripture at Revelation 22).
Please note that ancient HAND-WRITTEN dates and family records commonly written inside Bibles do NOT tell us the date of printing of the Bible.
If your Bible does not have any Title Page or Colophon date… and you still cannot tell when it was printed, or you just don’t know what you have… then WE cannot help you.
We suggest that you take your Bible to the nearest MAJOR UNIVERSITY and ask for assistance from the Head Librarian or the Librarian in charge of Rare & Special Collections. The Librarian may be able to offer you “identification assistance” services or “authenticity verification” services, though they will not be able to appraise your Bible.  
Please do NOT call us asking us to “help you figure out when your Bible was printed”, because that cannot be done over the phone or via email.  Once you are able to determine when your Bible was printed, scroll back up this page and read about that century of Bible printing, to see if your Bible might be of significant value.

STEP TWO:  ABOUT THE BIBLE YOU WISH TO SELL

UPDATE:  We hope the above guide is helpful to you in self-evaluating the Bible or book you wish to sell.  However, as of late 2026, we are no longer in the business of buying or selling rare and antique Bibles and books.  

If you wish to sell your Bible or book, we can only refer you to EBAY.COM   Again, we ask that you please NOT email us regarding any materials you wish to sell or have evaluated or identified, as we are no longer in that business.  

Your best resource for selling any Bible or book you own is EBAY.COM and your best resource for obtaining help identifying any Bible or book you own is the Head Librarian or Librarian in charge of Rare & Special Collections at your nearest major university.