Repurpose Hand colored Gravure?

I don't know the first thing about art, but picked up 2 pictures at a yard sale that appealed to me. A woman who was eyeing the pictures before I purchased them told me that they were worth money, I just liked the print, and thought about upcycling the frames, which this same woman told me is gold leaf. On the back of the picture there is a tag that reads S77/5864 then Landscape by Corot-Nasmyth Handcolored Gravure. Looks like a preprinted tag by a company called ARTLORE. I like the prints, the mat is hideous and I want to play with the frames and re-purpose them. I understand that this artist hand a number of forgeries,and this is probably just a cheap print, copy. But the framing is beautifully done, (other than choice of mat) for a cheap copy and so it kind of makes me a little nervous. I just want to make sure I'm not destroying something special by taking things apart and repurposing them. LOL, as I said, I have no training about art, just know whether a picture appeals to me or not. Can anyone help?


URL: http://able2know.org/post/discuss/