[sterlingdays]

I have a genuine 44 star American flag. It is a 6 by 12 foot flag, with only a few small motheaten holes in it. I am looking for information about how much it could be worth, if anyone has any advice on where to look?
Thank you,
Sterlingdays

[Robin Hickman]

Hi, SterlingDays !

Welcome to the USA-Flag-Site forums !!!

I am a "novice" when it comes to this particular forum (Flag Identification and Collecting) in general and to your question in particular.

Which means, of course, that I might not be of much help to you. I hope that you'll bear with me for a few minutes of your time. Okay?

First, as you've probably noticed, this forum currently has three pages of threads regarding "Flag Identification and Collecting". While only a few are about 44 star flags, most of them have to do with "older" (vintage) Flags. Additionally, if you've browsed some of the other forums on this site, you'll notice that there are other people who have questions about 44 Star, and other vintage, Flags.

One such question was in this thread :
http://www.usa-flag-site.org/forum/need-help-putting-value-our-44-a-4544.html

My suggestion would be to read ALL appropriate entries. I say that not so you'll waste your time, but in with the idea that maybe there is/was someone with a similar question that was answered in a way that you could use.

I think that one of the answers I ran across a while back had to do with finding a "local" Flag "expert" (Vexillologist) on the NAVA (North American Vexillological Association) website.

http://www.nava.org/

(Now, I might have screwed that up by assuming that you live somewhere in North American, but I assure you there are a great many vexillogical associations all over the world.)

Anyway, I guess the idea would be to find one of NAVA's "experts" that live in your "neighborhood", and put you in touch with them.

Wherever you find an expert, they will be asking you a number of questions about your Flag. It will be a BIG help to them (and you) if you've already checked things out and have the answers ready for them. AND... It will save a LOT of TIME !!!

They are going to want to see photos of your Flag. All kinds of photos. The front, the back, the header, the fly end, the holes, the stains, the construction methods & details, etc.

How old is the Flag? Do you know (for certain) when it was made? If memory serves me correctly, I think that the 44 Star Flag was used from 1891 to 1896. Was it made then or later as a "replicate" flag?

What materials is the Flag made of? Wool, or Cotton, or Linen, or Silk, or some combination of materials? Remember, synthetic materials, like nylon, rayon, polyester, etc, weren't invented until the 20th Century.

They will want to know the "history" of your Flag. Did you pick it up at a garage sale or estate sale? Has it always been in your family? Do you know who originally owned it? Was it flown at a historical site or during a historic event (like at the White House or Capitol, or at Grover Cleveland's 2nd inauguration or at a convention, etc.)

The keys to the value of your Flag will probably be it's age, condition, ownership, history, and what it looks like.

Want to see what a 44 Star Flag sold for at Cowan's Auctions back in January, 2004 :

http://www.cowanauctions.com/past_sales_view_item.asp?itemid=11829

To find more auctions, "Google it" : Use the search terms "44 Star Flag" and Auction. The terms should be entered in Google's search box EXACTLY like this : "44 Star Flag" auction

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%2244+star+flag%22+auction&btnG=Google+Searc h

How about eBay?

GOOGLE : "44 Star Flag" eBay

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%2244+star+flag%22+eBay&btnG=Google+Search

Good Luck on finding the information you're looking for on your Flag!

As I said at the beginning, I'm a "novice" in this particular area. There are a number of people on this site who are MUCH more knowledgable in this (and a LOT of others) area.

Do check out some of the other "vintage" flag threads here and gather up whatever information about your Flag that you can.

Thank You for your time !

Robin "It's ALWAYS A Grand Old Flag!" Hickman