Median Prices, by Year of Listing

The following graph shows the median price of all the items listed in each of the 18 volumes of the Antique Map Price Record.  From the $100-$200 range in the first 10 years, the median price started to climb in 1994, until today when it has exceeded the $500 mark.  Certainly this change partially reflects inflation, but by most measures, $100 in 1983 would still be worth less than $200 today.  So other factors must be in effect.  Perhaps, taken overall, antiquarian maps have appreciated faster than inflation in the last two decades, but this is a contentious issue.  Perhaps the editors of the Price Record have tended to sample more from "higher-end" catalogues than in the past.  (Note that since this chart graphs medians, and not means, the inclusion of a few very high priced items will not have any significant effect.on these results.)

For a more detailed view of the prices of all items over the 20 year period, see the plot of individual points.