September,
2001 Monthly Newsletter
How Can I Tell the Value of My Hummel?
The value of an authentic Hummel Figurine takes a lot of things into consideration. I receive many emails from people wanting to know what I think the value of their Hummel is. The truth is, the best way and most effective way of getting an accurate appraisal is by going to a certified appraiser. But....there are some things that can give you a rough idea and I will explain those below.
There are 4 very important factors in determining the value of your Hummel. Firstmost, is the trademark. Second, is the mold number, third is the size of your Hummel and last but not least is the condition your Hummel is in. Since the explanations can get very detailed, I am just going to give you a short course so that you will have some idea.
Trademarks
Trademarks
identify when your Hummel was made and have varied over the years. You
will find this on the bottom of your Hummel usually stamped or incised
into the underside base of the Hummel. There are currently a total of
8 trademarks each representing a specific era. The trademarks you see
listed here are pretty general for the eras. Within each era there were
variations of the trademarks, so keep this in mind when you are looking
at your Hummel.
Mold Numbers
This is the most important factor in identifying any MI Hummel Figurine.
Mold numbers are like an identification to the specific piece. It tells
the number the Hummel was assigned usually with a slash and another
number after that which usually refers to the size or size suffix. For
example, when a new Hummel is made, it is always assigned a new number.
Then years later when a different size of the same Hummel is born, they
will assign it the "mold number plus /I or mold number plus /II".
After 1952 with the introduction of the figurine, Serenade (mold 218)
they decided to identify the standard size of a Hummel by putting a
"0" after the slash. Also, some of the earliest Hummels you
will notice do not even have a second number because they did not start
implementing this procedure until the later years. Actually, it can
get pretty confusing to go into greater detail on this, because there
were variations in this too. But at least you should have a general
idea.
Size
The reason I list this feature is because some sizes are rare and
some are common. You may have a Hummel where many were made of that
specific size. But the person next to you may have the same Hummel in
a size where only a few were made and thus can increase the value quite
a bit.
Condition
If your Hummel has cracks or crazing, chips or broken pieces, this will
definitely affect the value of your Hummel. Even if it has been repaired
and it is not noticeable, a certified appraiser will be able to detect
this. Nowadays the technology has gotten so good that you can't tell
with the naked eye that a Hummel has been repaired. They used to use
black lights to detect glue on repaired Hummels. Now because of advanced
technology, they have to x-ray them in order to tell.
Many people have asked me and have not understood why an older Hummel they have is not worth as much as a newer Hummel. When you take all the above into consideration it can make quite a difference on the value of your Hummel. So just because you have a Hummel that is not so old, don't think for a moment that it can't be worth too much. It all depends....
How can you find out the value of your Hummel? That's easy. Aside from everything I have mentioned here, there are also several books that will help you determine the value of your Hummel. I have a couple listed below that we recommend. We use them ourselves...