What to Do With Old Maps & Atlases

Modern road atlases and fold-out maps have essentially no resale value, but antique maps and early atlases can be genuinely valuable — and either way you don't have to throw them out. I accept maps and atlases of every kind and condition in Albuquerque with free pickup, keep the usable ones in circulation, and flag anything with real cartographic value. Here's how to handle a box of old maps without tossing something special.

Published June 2026 · By Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project · Free pickup: 702-496-4214

The hard truth about map and atlas values

The maps in most houses are recent and common: Rand McNally road atlases, gas-station state maps, AAA TripTiks, the fold-out maps that came tucked in National Geographic. These were produced by the millions and have no meaningful resale value. The same goes for modern world atlases and school atlases — useful objects, but not collectible ones.

Which maps actually have value

Cartography is a real collecting field, and the valuable end of it is genuinely valuable:

Antique engraved and decorative maps. Pre-1900 maps — copperplate or steel engravings, hand-colored maps, decorative cartouches — are collected as art and history. Early maps depicting the American Southwest and New Mexico, especially ones showing the region in its earlier territorial or Spanish-colonial states, are sought after.

Early separately-issued sheet maps — railroad survey maps, county and land-grant maps, early city plats of Santa Fe or Albuquerque — can matter to historians and collectors alike.

Early bound atlases. A genuinely 18th- or 19th-century atlas can be valuable as a whole. For the full picture of this field, see the guide to collecting New Mexico maps and cartography.

Why nobody else takes them

Thrift stores aren't set up to evaluate or sell maps, so they usually decline them; libraries rarely want donated modern atlases. Maps also tend to be awkward — oversized, folded, fragile — which makes them exactly the kind of thing that ends up in a landfill simply because no one will deal with it. I will.

I accept every map and atlas

Road atlases, world atlases, fold-out maps, framed maps, the whole drawer — any kind, any condition, free pickup anywhere in the Albuquerque metro. I keep usable atlases and maps in circulation through schools and classrooms, set aside anything with genuine cartographic value, and recycle only what truly can't be reused. You don't have to sort it or judge it; just hand me the box.

Recycling, as a last resort

Plain paper maps and atlas pages are paper-recyclable, but laminated or coated maps usually are not and have to go in the trash. Because it's easy to mistake an interesting old map for junk, the safest move is to let me look first — I'd rather rescue one good map than see it shredded.

Frequently asked questions

Are old maps and atlases worth anything?

Modern road atlases and fold-out maps aren't. Antique maps (pre-1900), early Southwest/New Mexico maps, and early atlases can be genuinely valuable.

Where can I donate old maps and atlases in Albuquerque?

I accept them all, any condition, with free pickup — call or text 702-496-4214.

Should I cut up an old atlas to sell the maps?

Generally no — an intact early atlas is usually worth more whole. Keep it intact and have it looked at first.