Quiz: Family Heirlooms 101

Not all heirlooms hold monetary value. Some heirlooms possess historic, legal or simply sentimental value alone.

Even if a person doesn't have more traditional types of heirlooms like bone china, antique furniture, mink furs and the like, he or she probably still possesses a lot of items that hold some value, whether monetary, historic, legal or sentimental. And in many cases, it's completely possible a person's best potential heirlooms aren't even tangible at all.

Making a donation to a historical society might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you're bequeathed your great-aunt's butter churn, but doing so will help you preserve a piece of your family's history and educate future generations.

If you can't tell whether you've got a historical artifact or an old piece of junk on your hands, give a related historical society a call. Most societies are open during normal business hours and are eager to talk to prospective donors.

When it comes to donating family heirlooms to historical societies, you can donate just about anything: old cars, furniture, jewelry, books, clothes and even entire buildings.

You can donate almost anything to a historical society. However, it's often the least valuable heirlooms that are the most sought-after.

When you're having an heirloom appraised, it can't hurt to ask the expert how often you should have the object re-evaluated. If the market is volatile, you may want to have it appraised as often as every five years to be covered for its full value.

An appraisal will take into account several factors, including the condition of the item, the rarity of the item and the demand of the item.

Not all family heirlooms stored in the home are covered (in full value) by all insurance providers. It is best to check with the company that holds your policy directly to determine if you need to purchase additional coverage for more valuable items.

If you have a ring, brooch or earrings that showcase quality stones, but sport fussy, outdated settings, it easy to redesign your pieces to create a streamlined, custom look. In fact, some fine jewelers specialize in reworking heirloom stones into new, updated mountings. You keep the sentiment of your vintage piece, but lose the old-fashioned look.