Provenance

The Provenance form records how a specimen entered the collection, where it was obtained, and the degree of confidence in its legal and ethical provenance. This information forms part of the specimen's permanent history and supports responsible collection management.

Field	Purpose
Specimen	Selects the specimen whose provenance information is being viewed or edited.
Acquisition date	Records the date on which the specimen was acquired by the collection. This may be the purchase date, collection date or date of receipt.
Source / seller / collector	Records the individual, organisation, dealer, auction house or collector from whom the specimen was obtained.
Source type	Classifies how the specimen entered the collection (for example purchased, self-collected, gifted, exchanged or inherited). This provides a consistent way to analyse acquisition history.
Seller URL	Records the website or online listing associated with the acquisition where applicable. Useful for documenting commercial purchases or preserving references to archived listings.
Purchase price	Records the amount paid for the specimen. This field is optional and intended primarily for personal collection management rather than valuation.
Currency	Records the currency associated with the purchase price (for example GBP, EUR or USD).
Ethical confidence	Records the collector's confidence that the specimen was obtained legally and ethically. This represents an assessment based on the available evidence rather than a definitive legal judgement.
Provenance summary	A concise summary of the specimen's acquisition history, origin and any supporting evidence. Intended as a readable overview of the specimen's provenance.
Legality notes	Records any information relating to collecting permissions, export documentation, ownership history, legislation or other factors relevant to the specimen's legal status.
Private acquisition notes	Records personal notes relating to the acquisition that are not intended for public display, such as negotiation details, seller impressions or other collection management information.
Save provenance	Saves the provenance information for the selected specimen.

Notes

• Provenance information should be recorded as soon as reasonably possible after acquisition while details are still fresh
• The Ethical confidence field represents an informed assessment based on the evidence available at the time of recording and may be updated if new information becomes available
• Recording incomplete provenance is generally preferable to recording none, provided any uncertainty is made explicit
• The provenance record is intended to preserve both objective facts (dates, sources, prices) and the reasoning behind confidence in the specimen's history