Originally Posted by bearisgray
Sometimes I think the pricing is
"whatever the traffic might bear"
As a former antiques dealer, I can vouch for the truth in that. Another factor is the price the dealer paid. It does seem like the dealers in your area do not specialize in textiles, or else they would research their items in order to get top dollar, instead of just telling you stories.
In fact, many unfinished quilts were the result of the high death rates before antibiotics and such. There are no special features to a smaller quilt top, because it may be a larger one that was never finished. There are some dealers that will "adjust" the sizes to make them more saleable.