Old photographs

I have a 20+ old black&white photographs similar to attached one. All of them are photos of places around the UK. I can see each photo has J.V. in the text description at the bottom which I figured out it means 'James Valentine' which was leading manufacturer of picture postcards between 1815–1879. Pictures that I have are not postcards, all of them has plain back and some has something hand-written. Most of them are 8x6 inches or larger and paper they are printed on looks really old. What I would like to know is what does the number before J.V. mean? Attached picture is not mine, I just used it as example for the description text on the picture. What do you suggest how do I get more information about the value of those pictures?

 

Well, I wouldn't call that one very old. From the woman's hemline, it dates to the 1930s. The number would be a series number so individual images could be identified, stored, ordered and reordered.

Debora

 

This are some of my pictures

 

And the back of the photo

 

Think your dates are wrong. Valentine & Sons, the company founded by James Valentine, was in business from 1851 until 1994. With some quick research I see that your 'Edinburgh Castle from Esplanade' was included in the company's photographic album Views of Edinburgh which was published in the 1890s. Your others may date to then as well.

Debora

 

For a quick value check, you can go to eBay and search Completed Listings. That will give you an idea of supply & demand. Then check current Listings too. That will help you identify which are common and which might be harder to find.

Debora

 

In "Edinburgh Castle from Esplanade" eaxmple, on ebay I can only find postcards which value varies between £1.99 and £8. Can I assume that 8x6 inches picture would be valued more then a postcard?

 

Size is not necessarily going to determine value. There are other variables such as subject, age, condition and rarity that may come in to play.

Debora

 

Your copy of 'Edinburgh Castle from Esplanade' is badly foxed. That will affect value. In general, one would think that photographs of Edinburgh and environs would be fairly common as has been tourist destination for many, many years. More obscure locations in the UK and abroad along with images of industrial subjects (ships, trains, etc.) might be scarcer and/or have greater collector interest. Here's another place you can get an idea of value. Keep in mind these are estimated auction prices, not sold prices.

https://www.invaluable.com/artist/valentine-james-bbimsiefjt/sold-at-auction-prices/

Why don't you post a list of the images you have and their series number?

Debora

 

I've just scanned all J.V. pictures I have, other ones looks like doesn't have author marks. Please find the pictures here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Antiques/comments/wxax7l/ive_got_12_jv_james_valentine_photos_and_it_looks/

 

That was a lot of work. So you've 12 in total. Mostly Edinburgh, but all Scotland. The brown spots are called foxing and foxing generally affects value.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxing

Debora

 

Thank you very much, I'm still learning about this ;-)

 

I'm happy to be of help. And I'm sure others will share their thoughts too.

Debora

 

They are all Edinburgh. The Forth Bridge is in Queensferry (South and North), but the photo was taken from South Queensferry, which falls under the administration of the City of Edinburgh.

 

Well, a few exceptions... Melrose Abbey, the Firth of Forth Bridge...

Debora

 

True, that is the Borders. I mistook it for another one of Holyrood Chapel.

The Forth Bridge is taken from the South Queensferry side, so the City of Edinburgh administrative region.
When you drive from the centre of Edinburgh to the Forth Bridge, you don't notice that you are entering a borough that was once independent. Unlike when you drive to some of the other villages and boroughs that are now part of Edinburgh, like Dean or Cramond.

 

Know it well. Once upon a time, it was the view from my drawing room window.

Debora

 

Wonderful. My brother and SIL use to live and study there, and our family is friends with the Scottish in-laws. For decades I used to spend most of my holidays there, stayed in Murrayfield. Not being able to travel anymore put a stop to that, but I still consider Edinburgh my second home.