Maybe the very best place to begin our investigation is to go proper again to the very starting.

Though it could seem to be Christmas playing cards have all the time been round, they actually solely date again to the 1800s.

The primary ever Christmas card was created within the UK in 1843 by London-based illustrator John Calcott Horsley on behalf of Sir Henry Cole. Horsley designed and hand-coloured the unique, after which a complete of 1,000 had been lithographed. These playing cards had been offered at a shilling every.

The cardboard exhibits a Christmas dinner with three generations of a household having fun with a Christmas occasion. The aspect panels present charitable scenes with individuals clothes and feeding the poor. Solely 12 of the unique 1,000 playing cards nonetheless in existence.

Unsurprisingly, each their rarity and historic significance has made these playing cards extraordinarily useful.

Now, the probabilities that you’ve got one among Horsley’s unique 1,000 lithographed Christmas playing cards in your possession are slim. And so are the probabilities that you’ve got any designed by different well-known artists or despatched by the royal household.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t imply that your assortment is devoid of worth.

Right here are some things that would spell large bucks relating to previous Christmas playing cards:

Age

Since vacation and birthday playing cards are thought-about by most to be nothing greater than sentimental ephemera, it’s commonplace for them to finish up within the trash as soon as festivities are over. Which suggests it’s terribly onerous to seek out actually, actually previous Christmas playing cards.

If, nonetheless, you observed that there is likely to be a pair gathering mud in your storeroom, go have a little bit of a rummage.

Clearly, the older the specimen the extra useful it is going to be.

Situation

One other large determiner of worth is how well-preserved the Christmas card in query is. When you’ve got one relationship again to 1890, but it surely’s torn and pale, the probability of it bringing in any cash is near zero.

If nonetheless, the cardboard has been saved rigorously, protected against any doable harm and nonetheless seems as pristine because the day it arrived on the mantlepiece, chances are you’ll simply be in luck!

Paintings

What’s on the cardboard? If it’s an unique art work by a reasonably to extremely profitable artist (who is aware of – possibly your nice grandparents had been well-connected), the cardboard could be of curiosity to collectors.

One other factor to pay attention to on the quilt of the cardboard in query is whether or not it depicts an historic occasion or fashionable character. Examples of the previous might embody something alluding to one of many World Wars, whereas the latter might maybe come within the type of traditional, classic illustrations of anybody from Santa Clause to Mickey Mouse.

What’s inside

Lastly, even when the well-preserved outdoors is considerably unremarkable, the within could also be the place the magic lies.

When you’ve got a Christmas card with an ink-on-paper movie star signature, its worth is sort of positive to shoot up. In fact, there’s additionally a hierarchy to think about right here. When you’ve got one signed by Queen Elizabeth herself, it’s in all probability fairly a bit extra useful than one bearing the signature of your native radio station’s host.

Tickled by the concept of earning money from Christmas playing cards? We propose you begin your profession on eBay!

It’s fairly simple to arrange an account and also you’ll even have full management over your auctions and gross sales.