Most arrowheads are worth about $2-20 each. The small triangular and notched points of the last two thousand years, the broken and resharpened pieces, and the plain gray chert points that make up nearly every frame on a farmhouse wall sell in that range. A smaller group sells for real money. Large, whole, finely flaked points from the Archaic period, such as Dovetails, Hardins, Thebes and Lost Lakes, bring about $100-2,000. Paleo-Indian points from the end of the Ice Age, the Clovis, Folsom, Cumberland, Scottsbluff and Agate Basin types, bring about $500-10,000 when whole and documented, and the finest documented examples have passed $100,000 at auction. Reproductions made by modern knappers, which are now more common in the market than ancient points, sell for $5-50 as what they are.
The price is set by four things in order: type and age, size and completeness, material and workmanship, and whether the point can be shown to be ancient and to have come from a known place. The last point carries more weight on arrowheads than on almost anything else, because a modern knapper with a copper tool can make a Clovis in an afternoon.
Quick answer
- Most points sell for $2-20. Large whole Archaic points bring $100-2,000, Paleo points $500-10,000 and more.
- Type is read from the base: notching, stem, flutes and shape place a point in a period.
- Whole, symmetrical, thin and made of a colorful or distant material is what collectors pay for. A broken tip or ear takes most of the value.
- Modern reproductions are everywhere; patina, mineral deposits and rounded flake scars are the ancient tells, and a written opinion from a known authenticator is what the market trusts.
How to identify and value an arrowhead, step by step
- Measure it. Length, width and thickness. Most true arrow points are under 1.5 inches; longer points were spear, dart or knife blades, and collectors use "arrowhead" for all of them. Length drives price: a 3-inch Archaic point is worth many times a 1.5-inch one of the same type.
- Read the base. The base is where type lives. Corner notches, side notches, basal notches, a stem, a contracting or expanding stem, serrated edges, a beveled edge, a ground base, or a flute (a long channel flake running up from the base) each point to a period and a type. Flutes mean Paleo, and Paleo means an expert should see it.
- Place it in a period. Paleo (about 13,000 to 9,000 years ago): lanceolate, often fluted, finely flaked, ground bases. Archaic (about 9,000 to 3,000 years ago): large notched and stemmed points, beveled and serrated edges, the biggest and most valuable common category. Woodland (about 3,000 to 1,000 years ago): stemmed and notched points, often Adena and Hopewell types, with the finest materials. Mississippian and late prehistoric (the last 1,000 years): small triangular and side-notched true arrow points, the most common of all and the least valuable.
- Name the type. Use a regional reference: the Overstreet guide covers the United States by region with photographs of each type. Match the base, the outline and the size, and note that types are regional; a Texas type does not turn up in Ohio.
- Identify the material. Local gray chert is the baseline. Colorful and glassy materials bring more: Flint Ridge from Ohio in rainbow colors, Knife River flint from North Dakota, Burlington and Mill Creek chert, Dover chert from Tennessee, Alibates and Edwards chert from Texas, novaculite from Arkansas, obsidian in the West, jasper and quartz in the East. A point made far from the source of its material was carried or traded, and that interests collectors.
- Judge the workmanship. Thin, symmetrical, with even parallel or collateral flaking across the face, a straight edge and a base finished with care. Thick, lumpy and asymmetrical points were tools made in a hurry, and they are priced as such regardless of age.
- Check completeness. A missing tip, a broken ear at the base or a resharpened blade that has shrunk and lost its shape all take 50-90 percent off. Collectors use a 1 to 10 grade: a 10 is perfect, a 7 or 8 has a tiny flaw, a 5 is noticeably damaged, and below 5 is a filler piece.
- Look for age. Under magnification, an ancient point shows a patina that differs from a fresh break, mineral deposits or root etching in the flake scars, rounded and softened flake ridges, and sometimes a different color at a later break. A fresh, glassy, sharp-ridged surface over the whole point, a uniform waxy sheen from heat-treated material, and flakes that look identical in size and rhythm suggest modern work.
- Gather the history. Where it was found, by whom, in what year, and which collections it has passed through. A point from a named field in a named county with a finder's note is worth far more than the same point with no story. Old collection tags, catalog numbers inked on the point and photographs all help.
- Search sold results for the type, size, material and grade. Auction archives from the specialist artifact auctions, and sold listings. Ignore asking prices; the arrowhead market has a wide gap between what is asked and what sells.
What the common types sell for
The following prices assume a whole, well-made point of the stated size in a good local material, with a known find location, as of late 2026. Colorful materials, exceptional size and a documented history push a point to the top of the range or beyond; a broken tip or ear drops it to the bottom or below.
| Type and period | Size and notes | Typical sold price, whole, as of late 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Small triangular points (Madison, Hamilton, Fresno), late prehistoric | Under 1.5 inches, the common true arrowhead | $2-15 |
| Small side-notched points (Cahokia, Reed, Washita), late prehistoric | Under 1.5 inches; Cahokia with multiple notches | $5-40; fine Cahokia $100-300 |
| Woodland stemmed and notched (Adena, Snyders, Jack's Reef) | 1.5 to 3 inches | $20-200; Flint Ridge Hopewell $100-500 |
| Archaic corner-notched (Kirk, Big Sandy, Brewerton) | 1.5 to 3 inches | $15-150 |
| Archaic beveled (Thebes, Lost Lake, Hardin) | 2 to 4 inches | $100-1,500; large Hardins to $3,000 |
| Dovetail (St. Charles) | 2 to 5 inches, Flint Ridge or Burlington | $150-2,500; large and colorful to $5,000+ |
| Archaic stemmed (Kirk Stemmed, Morrow Mountain, Savannah River) | 2 to 4 inches | $15-150 |
| Late Paleo lanceolate (Dalton, Quad, Greenbrier) | 1.5 to 3 inches, ground base | $75-600 |
| Scottsbluff, Eden, Alberta (Plains Paleo) | 2 to 5 inches, parallel flaking | $300-3,000 |
| Agate Basin, Hell Gap | 3 to 6 inches | $300-3,000 |
| Cumberland, Barnes, Redstone (fluted Paleo) | 2 to 4 inches | $800-8,000 |
| Folsom (fluted Paleo) | 1 to 2.5 inches, full-face flutes | Roughly $1,000-10,000+, though documented sales are thin |
| Clovis (fluted Paleo) | 2 to 6 inches, basal flutes, ground edges | $500-10,000; documented, large and colorful $20,000-100,000+ |
| Western obsidian points (Elko, Rose Spring, Desert Side Notched) | Under 2 inches | $5-60 |
| Texas types (Pedernales, Andice, Bell, Castroville) | 2 to 4 inches, Edwards chert | $30-400; Andice and Bell $500-5,000 |
| Knives, blades, drills, scrapers, celts and axes | Various | $5-300; full-groove axes $50-500 |
| Birdstones, bannerstones, gorgets, pipes | Woodland and Archaic ground stone | $200-5,000+; heavily faked |
| Any point with a broken tip or ear, any type | 10-50 percent of a whole example | |
| Any point reworked into a drill or scraper, any type | $5-40 | |
| Modern reproduction by a known knapper, sold as such | $5-50; signed art pieces by well-known knappers $100-500 |
The first two rows and the broken row cover most of what comes out of a plowed field or a shoebox, and that is the honest picture: a frame of fifty mixed points from a farm sells for about $50-300 as a group. The large Archaic bevels, the Dovetails and anything Paleo are where the money is, and the Paleo prices depend on a written opinion as much as on the stone.
What moves the price
| Factor | Effect on price |
|---|---|
| Whole, symmetrical, thin, with a sharp tip and both ears | The baseline for the prices above |
| Tip broken | Deduction of 50-80 percent |
| One ear or barb missing | Deduction of 40-70 percent |
| Resharpened short, outline lost | Deduction of 50-80 percent |
| Chip or impact fracture on one edge | Deduction of 20-40 percent |
| Colorful or distant material (Flint Ridge, Knife River, Alibates, obsidian in the East) | Adds 50-300 percent |
| Size well above typical for the type | Adds 100-500 percent |
| Documented find site with finder, county and year | Adds 20-100 percent; essential at the top |
| Written opinion from a recognized authenticator (Davis, Jackson, Bennett, Rogers, Berner and others) | Adds confidence and 20-100 percent on Paleo and large Archaic |
| Old collection tag, catalog number or published reference | Adds 20-100 percent |
| From a known collection sold at auction | Adds 20-50 percent |
| Cleaned with acid, oiled or waxed to shine | Deduction of 20-50 percent; hides the surface collectors read |
| Glued or restored | Must be disclosed; 20-40 percent of whole |
| Modern reproduction sold as ancient | No value as an artifact |
Authenticators matter because of the money at the top. A Clovis with a written opinion from a recognized name sells for several times the same point without one, and a reputable auction will not offer a Paleo point without it. For a $20 point the opinion costs more than the point, and no one expects it.
Reproductions, fakes and the legal side
Flintknapping is a living craft, and tens of thousands of new points are made every year, most of them sold honestly as art or practice. The problem is that a fraction of them are aged with acid, dirt and oil and sold as ancient, usually at the Paleo and large Archaic end where the money is. The tells are consistent: every flake scar equally fresh with no patina difference between faces and breaks, no mineral deposits in the scars, a waxy uniform sheen from heat-treated material, flutes that are too perfect, a thinness that ancient tools rarely managed on tough stone, and a "field find" story that stops short of a field. Ground stone pieces, especially birdstones and bannerstones, are reproduced in bulk and sold with false histories.
Collecting is also governed by law. In the United States the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 makes it an offense to collect artifacts on federal land, state laws cover state land and in some states private land, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act covers funerary and sacred objects. Surface finds on private land with the owner's permission are legal in most states, and that is where nearly every honest collection came from. Points from burials, caves and mounds carry legal and ethical problems that most dealers and auctions refuse to touch. Say where a point came from, and if you do not know, say that. Ancient objects from the other side of the Atlantic, such as Roman coins, face a similar mix of plentiful commons, faked rarities and export rules.
How WorthPic reads arrowhead photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From a straight-on photo of both faces with a ruler it reads the outline, the base treatment, the notching or stem, any flutes and the flaking pattern, and matches them to a type and period. From the color, translucency and texture of the stone it suggests the material and whether it is local to where the point was found. From the edges and ears it judges completeness and resharpening. From a close photo in raking light it looks for the surface differences, deposits and rounded scars that separate an ancient surface from a fresh one, and it says plainly when the photo is not sharp enough to show them. It then gives an honest value range for what the photos show, grouped for a frame of points if several are photographed together. What a photo cannot do is settle whether a point is ancient. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, it does not appraise for insurance and it does not vouch for a point. Any Paleo point, any large Archaic bevel or Dovetail, any ground stone piece, or any point that appears to be worth more than about $200 should go to a recognized artifact authenticator for a written opinion, or to a specialist artifact auction house, before it is priced or sold.
Common mistakes
- Pricing from asking listings, where undocumented "Clovis" points are offered daily at prices they never bring.
- Cleaning a point with acid, bleach or a wire brush, or oiling it for a photo. The surface is the evidence of age.
- Gluing a broken tip back on and not saying so.
- Framing points with hot glue or nails. A frame is fine; the glue is not.
- Believing a story without a place. "Grandfather found it" is not a find site; a county and a creek are.
- Assuming the biggest point is the oldest. Large Archaic blades are common; small Folsoms are rare.
- Calling every fine point a Clovis. Most fluted-looking bases are late Paleo or Archaic basal thinning, not flutes.
- Collecting on public land, or buying points from burials, caves or mounds.
What to photograph
- Both faces straight on, in even light, with a ruler or a coin for scale. This settles the type and size.
- The base close up, showing notches, stem, flutes and any grinding on the edges.
- Each edge from the side, showing thickness, beveling and any damage.
- The tip and each ear close up, so a break or a glued repair is visible.
- A close photo in raking light at an angle, showing the surface texture, deposits in the flake scars and any patina difference. This is the photo that most often decides between ancient and modern.
- Any ink number, tag, label or note that came with the point, and the frame if it is in one.
- For a collection, the whole frame first, then each notable point on its own.
When to get it looked at in person
A frame of small common points, or a single gray chert point from the farm, does not need an expert; describe it honestly, name the county it came from and sell it as what it is. A local or state archaeological society, or an artifact collectors club, is the right first stop for anything you cannot type, because members handle thousands of points and will tell you quickly whether a piece is worth taking further. For a Paleo point, a large Archaic bevel or Dovetail, a ground stone piece or a whole old collection, the route is a recognized artifact authenticator for a written opinion, followed by a specialist artifact auction house, which reaches the buyers who pay the top prices and insists on the paperwork that protects them. If you are not sure the object is an arrowhead at all, start with our guide to identifying a found object; the same shoebox often holds old marbles and other small finds worth a look.