At what age does a set of Encyclopedia Britannica become designated as antique?
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The usual answer is 100 years of age makes it an antique.
People use the terms antique and vintage all the time and not always correctly. This article talks about that phenomenon:
www.thesprucecrafts.com/
The thing with either an antique or a vintage item is people ALWAYS think they are "of value" which is not always the case for a variety of reasons that would take hours to discuss.
There are antiques that have little or no value because of condition or lack of demand. In today's market it is all about supply and demand and if there is no demand and no one is willing to plunk down their hard earned money...then no matter what it is there is not a value even if it is a 1000 years old.
We live in weird times!
Pghgirl has given an excellent definition of an antique and I especially like the article she posted.
I know you have not asked about value but generally that is what most people want to know.
When you are looking at a set of encyclopedias it is not usually the "antique" that has the highest value unless it is really an exceptional set and those are very difficult to find.
Some of the newer sets will sell for more money than a set 20-30 years old. The value of a set has to do with the condition, edition/year, type of binding (and paper), and also location so these are one of the kind of things that just has to be researched to see what the public is currently willing to pay.
Researching for value of a set is generally done on the Internet and eBay is still the best place to check (always check listed sets but rely only on "sold" sets for true value). Some people search Etsy and Amazon or Abe's Books but these are usually used by book sellers and listings can be on sale for months/years.
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