A recent ad by an antique dealer in a leading antique publication inspired this month’s column by suggesting that the role of the dealer is heading towards extinction.

The advertisement in question starts off by saying “yes, we are dinosaurs.” It goes on to define dealers not as large prehistoric creatures feared by small mammals and loved by children, but as a species who has acquired specialized skills and knowledge and who “grew up buying, owning and selling objects.” It follows that for dinosaurs (also known as dealers), their judgment has “been honed and tempered in the heat of risked money.”