@jdbelt1960 wrote:
Another example one may find an original Rembrandt or VanGogh print. It will be numbered. That would be a very valuable piece.
Van Gogh lived until 1890, and he did get involved in print making, to make his work more accessible.
He made a few prints, nine in total, and the runs were very small. For example, Old man drinking coffee had a print run of three, and the Van Gogh museum has all three copies, plus a preparatory drawing. Those are all the copies that were made. They are not numbered, so they are not a limited edition. They appear to be signed in the plate, not individually.
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/news-and-press/press-releases/20231129-world-first-van-goghs-c...
Rembrandt lived in the 17th century, before limited edition prints had been thought of. Any limited editions of his works, are called "afters" and were produced using his original plates after his death. Long after his death, in Rembrandt's case. The quality of those prints is usually low because of excessive wear and retouching on the plates due to excessive use.
The discovery of an original Rembrandt or Van Gogh print today, which was produced by the artist or even during their lifetime, would be a matter for headlines, and Christie's or Sotheby's.
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5037009
Limited Edition prints are a marketing technique, which began to be used in the 19th century, intended to increase the selling price by controlling quality and limiting availability. The size of the edition is limited by the durability of the print medium. With some kinds of etchings like drypoint or aquatint, the subtle features in the metal plate can wear out after only 25-50 or so impressions. With those prints, print order may matter, but the artist normally will not produce any more impressions than can be pulled with quality results. With some other kinds of prints, a few hundred impressions can be pulled before the quality starts to decline. The edition size will be limited to ensure the quality of all the impressions is good.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_edition#Limited_edition_prints
When the edition size is 500 or more, then it is really a limited reproduction, and with those techniques, any number of pieces can be produced. The limitation is artificial, and production order really doesn't matter. Some collectors may have individual preferences, such as significant numbers (like the first or last), or they may not want the earlier or later pieces because they feel they may be of lesser quality.
