I'm curious, how do you know it was a "few years old"? A bear that small is a yearling at best. If it was 2 or 3 years old it would be at least 5 1/2 ft long and at least that across the paws. As to the price, I don't know where you are looking. I can go to the taxidermy.net site and buy a bear skin twice that size for half the $$$. Antique means nothing on black bear since they are a very common huntable species. If it was something no longer hunted then antique means something. Heck, I can buy a bear tag, shoot the bear and get it tanned and not have much more than $900 in it.