How much are daguerreotype photos worth? (2024)

How much are daguerreotype photos worth?

Record prices in excess of $30,000 have been paid for individual daguerreotypes at auction. At a 1988 Sotheby's auction, a group of 11 daguerreotypes brought more than $50,000. A common portrait (many are found in hand-tinted color) of an unknown individual in clean condition generally fetches about $30.

Collectible and valuable

The most collectible daguerrotypes are those which provide information about the sitter or about the time period in which he/she lived. Of course, large scale daguerreotypes, daguerreotypes of famous figures in history, and unique sites command the highest values.

Ambrotypes typically feature a portrait of a little girl with rosy colored cheeks or an image of an Union soldier in a blue uniform. Collectors typically will pay between $35 to $350 for a good quality antique tintype in good condition.

Tintypes, patented in 1856, are actually on iron, not tin. Unlike a daguerreotype, tintypes are not reflective. While you can find them in cases (like the previous two image types), most tintypes found in collections aren't in any type of protective sleeve or case.

This tintype photo of Billy the Kid, created around 1880, was just sold for $2.3 million in June 2011.

In contrast to photographic paper, a daguerreotype is not flexible and is rather heavy. The daguerreotype is accurate, detailed and sharp. It has a mirror-like surface and is very fragile. Since the metal plate is extremely vulnerable, most daguerreotypes are presented in a special housing.

Is the image on glass or metal? Ambrotypes were developed on a glass plate, while tintypes were made on a thin iron plate. You can test to see if an image is a tintype by applying a small magnet to see if it attracts.

Popularity of the daguerreotype declined in the late 1850s when the ambrotype, a faster and less expensive photographic process, became available. A few contemporary photographers have revived the process.

How do I find the value of old photos?

Sixth-plate daguerreotype. Philadelphia, ca. 1852. The sixth-plate, measuring 2 ¾ by 3 ¼″, was the most popular sized plate for customers since its size made it convenient to slip out of a pocket or purse and hold in one's hand for easy viewing.

To make a daguerreotype, a sheet of copper is plated with a thin coat of silver. This plate is then cleaned and polished to a mirror finish. Next, it is sensitized in a lighttight box with iodine and bromine vapors until its surface turns yellow.

Ambrotypes were most popular in the mid-1850s to mid-1860s. Cartes de visite and other paper print photographs, easily available in multiple copies, replaced them. An ambrotype is comprised of an underexposed glass negative placed against a dark background. The dark backing material creates a positive image.

In 1826, Frenchman Joseph-Nicephore Niepce took a picture (heliograph, as he called it) of a barn. The image, the result of an eight-hour exposure, was the world's first photograph.