Home >> Collecting >> Antiques

How to Find the Value of an Antique Railroad Kerosene Lantern

Railroad lanterns are portable light sources that are glass sides surrounded by metal with a fuel source inside. Kerosene lanterns lasted even into the era of flashlights for their superior light and lack of need for batteries. However, these days they're all antiques. If you have a railroad lantern (as opposed to a big, stationary lamp), then there are things you can do to try and find it's worth.

Things You'll Need

Clean cloth
Digital camera

Instructions

- 1
  Examine the exterior of your kerosene lantern. Write down all the letters and numbers you find stamped into the metal, as well as any brands or names you find. These elements help l identify your lantern, even if you don't know what they mean at a glance.
- 2
  Take several pictures of the lantern from different angles so that you get overall shots, and that you capture the specific markings on the lamp. You want as much information as possible to create a complete a record.
- 3
  Take your kerosene lantern to antique stores, pawn shops and museums to try to find out what it would be worth. Appraising is hard work, so you should go to several stores to see what the average offers are and what additional details are found by the investigators. Additionally, because you have digital photographs, you can contact stores and experts too far away to visit and ask for an appraisal of what they see in the photos. Once you've spoken with the experts, you will have a rough idea of what you can get for your kerosene lantern.

Antiques