Dollars and Sense: Integrating Significance Assessment, Risk Assessment and Cost/Benefit Analysis in Conservation Management Planning

Abstract

This paper proposes a new type of conservation management plan to incorporate risk assessment and cost/benefit analysis. The author uses the methods of Significance2.0, Agnes Brokerhof’s Quiskscan Risk Assessment and May Cassar’s Cost/Benefit Appraisals for Collection Care to communicate a favourable action pathway for a complex and multi-purpose collection of numismatic artefacts at The Perth Mint. The combination of all three methods served to valorise the collection, highlight the risks faced and reveal the financial costs associated with all levels of intervention. This was particularly relevant in the non-museum context where financial and human resources are not automatically allocated to cultural heritage conservation. This comprehensive approach empowered the custodians to make informed and ethical choices, increasing the organisation’s engagement with concepts of cultural value and preventive conservation.