February 7, 2012 Our inquisitive readers are rising to the
challenge we gave them last month. The questions are pouring in
and we’re ready for more. Do you have any questions for our
curators? Submit your questions here. How much is the Hope
Diamond worth? — Marjorie Mathews, Silver Spring, Maryland
That’s the most popular question we get, but we don’t really
satisfy people by giving them a number. There are a number of
answers, but the best one is that we honestly don’t know. It’s a
little bit like Liz Taylor’s jewels being sold in December—all
kinds of people guessed at what they would sell for, but
everybody I know was way off. Only when those pieces were opened
up to bidding at a public auction could you find out what their
values were. When they were sold, then at least for that day and
that night you could say, well, they were worth that much. The
Hope Diamond is kind of the same way, but more so. There’s
simply nothing else like it. So how do you put a value on the
history, on the fact it’s been here o