Art, Antiques and Collectibles

Fine Art by viktor shvaiko033, Princess Fine Arts Gallery

Collectibles as investments

Generally speaking, a collectible is any physical asset that appreciates in value over time because it is rare or it is desired by many. Many people think of collectibles as things like stamps, coins, fine art or sports cards, but there really are no strict rules as to what is or is not a collectible.

Collectables are items of limited supply that are sought for a variety of reasons including a possible increase in value. In a financial sense, collectables can be viewed as a hedge against inflation. These items include stamps, antiques, coins and art as well as others. The problem with collectables as an investment is potential lack of liquidity, the inability to find a buyer for the collection

Gold coins are good examples of those that compute historical importance to its cost. These kinds of gold will not only base their price to weight, karat and market. In addition, also taken into account are the year they were formed, the number of their kinds and rarity of their existence.

If you are a collector, you would probably not consider buy and sell gold coins. That is because; you look at them as your trophies, treasures and finds. Automatically, you’ll look at them as something priceless. For that, there is no need for you to sell them.

On the other hand, if you are a trader, then it will be most interesting for you to sell gold coins for cash. For that, you would want to know the best time to offer your possessions in the market.

Fine Art

Rembrandt van Rijn self portrait
Rembrandt van Rijn self portrait

In European academic traditions, fine art is art developed primarily for aesthetics or beauty, distinguishing it from applied art that also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork.

Historically, the five main fine arts were painting, sculpture, architecture, music and poetry, with performing arts including theatre and dance. Today, the fine arts commonly include additional forms, such as film, photography, video production/editing, design, sequential art, conceptual art, and printmaking. However, in some institutes of learning or in museums, fine art and frequently the term fine arts (pl.) as well, are associated exclusively with visual art forms.

One definition of fine art is “a visual art considered to have been created primarily for aesthetic and intellectual purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness, specifically, painting, sculpture, drawing, watercolor, graphics, and architecture.” In that sense, there are conceptual differences between the fine arts and the applied arts. As originally conceived, and as understood for much of the modern era, the perception of aesthetic qualities required a refined judgment usually referred to as having good taste, which differentiated fine art from popular art and entertainment.

The word “fine” does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question, but the purity of the discipline according to traditional Western European canons. This definition originally excluded the applied or decorative Arts, and the products of what were regarded as crafts. In contemporary practice these distinctions and restrictions have become essentially meaningless, as the concept or intention of the artist is given primacy, regardless of the means through which this is expressed.

[box]An antique (Latin: antiquus; “old”, “ancient”) is a collectible item, at least 100 years old. It is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human society.[/box]

[box type=”note”]It is common practice to define “antique” as applying to objects at least 100 years old.[/box]

Golden Sunset photo-credit: lyng883 via Visualhunt / CC BY