Mansfield Library Subject Guides
Valuing Old Newspapers
For more information, contact: Jordan Goffin, Special Collections Librarian, 406.243.4036.
General Guidelines
Most old newspapers are not worth much money. Many single issues over 100 years old can be bought for less than five dollars, and even entire bound volumes of newspapers sometimes cost less than $100. More valuable newspapers are those that report on some important historical event, those with interesting illustrations, or those containing an unusual story.
A number of newspapers have also been reprinted in facsimile, and these facsimiles are worth very little. Many of them were reprinted over 100 years ago, so families who have owned them for generations think they're valuable. But they're not.
If you have an old newspaper which you want to value, the first thing to look at is the following list of 18 common facsimiles:
- Boston News-Letter, April 24, 1704
- New-England Courant Boston, Feb. 11, 1723
- New-England Weekly Journal, Boston, April 8, 1728
- Pennsylvania Gazette, Philadelphia, Dec 24, 1728 (first issue—see note at end)
- New-Hampshire Gazette, Portsmouth, Oct. 7, 1756
- Boston Gazette, March 12, 1770
- Maryland Journal, Baltimore, Aug. 20, 1773
- Massachusetts Spy, Worcester, May 3, 1775
- New-York Morning Post, Nov. 7, 1783
- Gazette of the United States, New York, May 2, 1789
- Ulster County Gazette, Jan 4, 1800—the most common facsimile newspaper.
- The Times, London, June 2, 1815
- The Sun, New York, Sept. 3, 1833
- Public Ledger, Baltimore, May 17, 1737
- The Sun, Baltimore, May 17, 1837
- Chattanooga Daily Rebel, Aug. 9 1862 and other dates
- Daily Citizen, Vicksburg Miss, July 4, 1863 and other dates—printed on wallpaper
- New York Herald, April 15, 1865—a very common newspaper reprint.
There are detailed circulars on each of the facsimiles above available from the Library of Congress. The call numbers for these in the Mansfield Library are LC 6.4/2:1 through LC 6.4/2:18. Another commonly reprinted newspaper not listed in the circulars is the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 7, 1941
You can also see a list of 16 of the 19 papers listed above, including the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, at http://historybuff.com/library/refhotlist.html . You should probably also look suspiciously at any newspaper which purports to be "Volume 1, Number 1." Many newspapers have done commemorative reprints of their first issues.
Old Newspaper Collecting on the Internet
The History Buff Newspaper Resources of America and The New York State Newspaper Project also have detailed Web pages with information about collecting and links to further resources. The latter also includes a list of a number of old-newspaper dealers, including Timothy Hughes’ Rare & Early Newspapers. Another large dealer is Phil Barber’s Historic Newspapers and Early Imprints. See their online catalogs, and you'll find many, many old newspapers selling for less than $10 for a single issue.
A note on the Pennsylvania Gazette:
Many other dates of the Pennsylvania Gazette have been faked, and many of these bear the alleged stamp of the "Tontine Coffee Room, Glasgow" and are photocopied on two glued-together sheets of antique paper.
Created by Christopher G. Mullin
Last revised 26 Dec. 2006