CHAPTER XXIX 



BUYING AND VALUING RAW FUR 



The buying of raw furs in the country by the inexperienced is 

 rather hazardous business. The value of raw furs depends upon the 

 quality of the fur and the size and condition of the skin. A large 

 skin that is poorly furred may be worth less than a small skin with 

 the fur fully developed. Raw furs are divided up into several grades 

 as follows: extra large #1 prime, large #1 prime, medium #1 prime, 

 small #1 prime, #2, large #2, #3 and #4. With some furs, such as 

 mink and marten, the color and gloss of the fur plays an important 

 part in its value. While size is important the value of a pelt does 

 not depend upon size alone. For example, two mink skins of equal 

 size and coming from the same section of the country may vary 

 greatly in price. One skin may be worth ten dollars and the other 

 twenty-five cents. The ten dollar mink would have its value in 

 the fact that it would be prime, full-furred and dark colored, the 

 other would be unprime, that is, the pelt would be almost black in 

 color and the fur would be just fuzz. There are other mink skins 

 that would range in value somewhere between these two extremes 

 and, as stated before, their value would depend upon size, quality 

 and the color of the fur. 



The principal thing to keep in mind in valuing and buying raw 

 furs is the fact that it is the fur on the pelt that makes the skin val- 

 uable, and the finer and silkier, the better colored the fur, the 

 more valuable it is. Therefore, when starting out to buy furs, 

 these facts should be taken into consideration and the buyer should 

 be well enough posted to know one grade from another at least in 

 a general way. Furs are bought with the idea of ultimately making 

 them up into fur garments, and as stated before, it is the quality of 

 the fur or the quality and beauty of the fur that makes one skin more 

 valuable than another. The first consideration in buying furs, 

 therefore, should be given to size / quality and color. By quality is 

 meant the thickness, softness and silkiness of the fur, the primeness 

 and condition of the pelt. By color is meant the richness, gloss, 

 luster and shade of color of the fur. As a general proposition, in 

 most furs where the color is an element of value, the dark shades of 



