Having collections and being old.

[duncang]

My wife and I have collected a lot of things over the years.

My wife passed away last year. She had a spoon collection with about 200 from all over. Most from places we visited. Some from friends and family.

We collected rocks from our travels. Two full curio cabinets full. Plus about 15 pounds of geodes just in boxes. Most of those are common ones.

I have a small fossil and metal detector finds collection. Most of my metal detector finds are world war 1 items from a local World War I camp here. They could all fit in a 15” by 15” box. The biggest item in that is a World war 1 75 millimeter shell casing. I checked no primer or explosive in the case. Other fun items a pre 1950’s Studebaker emblem and a model T ford hub cover.

My main collection are coins. I started collecting in the early 70’s. So it’s pretty big. I have coins from 300 bc and up to recent. Most I consider eBay fodder. Not many but a few individual coins are really special and worth in the hundreds maybe more.

No one in my family has shown any interest in coin collecting. So getting ready to start selling them off. It’s going to be a little while since I’m thinking about getting some graded and have designations assigned to them. That will take some time. Going through them and seeing if any are close enough to be worth it. With coins a single bump in grade can make a big price difference. If they don’t make the grade it’s a waste of money. But if it does and I don’t have them graded it would be throwing away money.

Some I may even try getting them in one of the major auction house auctions. They wouldn’t be star material but I’ve seen them sold at their auctions. It’s hard to figure out if it would be worth it with the auctioneers fee. I really don’t expect to start moving very many for months. The only ones I may get online fast are ones that are normally sold in bulk rolls.

I have proof sets for all my kids and grandkids birthdays. So those are going directly to each of them. Some I may just toss in a bunch of the junk coins in a little treasure chest along with pretty rocks as my grandson calls them and give them to him.

Also I have 4 special coins. Two of each. This has a really strange twist. My wife inherited a silver dollar and a liberty nickel . I inherited a silver dollar and a liberty nickel. Then to top it off both are the same years. My wife and I were destined to be together. I have no idea how to handle that.

So many decisions and things I need to do to clear everything out is daunting. My youngest daughter lives a few hundred miles away. But I’m going to try to get all my kids together for a day just to look over stuff and decide what they want. I’ve put this off too long.

[alwaysinasnit]

1. ...

[birdographer]

2. Good luck finding homes for the items!

It does seem daunting just dealing with the coins, which may bring in more $$ than you think. It's a long process, isn't it?

But to me, the fun of collections is in the collecting! I've never collected anything of any value to anyone else, so I haven't had to deal with that (and with no kids, no-one to offer things to...). The most fun was in adding to the collections! Finding something new and different, something special, and having it with the rest of the memories. The collection as a whole is great, but to me it pales in comparison with the creation of it. I have sold or donated my collections, but I keep the most special pieces back for their sentimental value. Again, I wish you the best as you work to clear them out.

[Different Drummer]

3. Fellow collector here.

I have a couple of main collections--writing instruments and old commercials/TV shows on tape and DVD. The prize in my writing instruments collection is a Scripto mechanical pencil from the days when Scripto made writing instruments. I would have a hard time parting with that. Also included in that collection are various Sheaffer pens, both ballpoint and rolling ball. It's my understanding that Cross bought Sheaffer about ten years ago and I'm not sure any Sheaffer brand instruments are sold in the U.S. anymore.

I have media containing old commercials going back to the 50s and 60s and the same for TV shows. I'm not exactly old but I have more years behind me than I do ahead of me and I have no direct descendants. I also don't know of anyone who would want my collections.

[duncang]

6. I have one special pen.

It was from my mother’s side. It’s a mother of pearl dip pen. Not sure but think it’s from my great grandmother. They’re not worth a lot but it’s neat. I do need to check the nib for who made it.

[Wonder Why]

4. For anything that doesn't have real value, perhaps donate them. There are all sorts of mineral museums and

Gem & Mineral Societies around that would love the donation and perhaps you can find a spoon museum also as there seem to be a number of them on Google. Same thing with military museums. Generally, the big places aren't interested, have similar items or already have too much to ever put your stuff on display but smaller museums generally take donations. Local History Museums also like things and might have a military display of WW1 vets.

As to coins, if you or your heirs don't really need the money that bad, lesser valued coins are often appreciated by small museums and even non-profit organization often have volunteers that check FleaBay and sell things for the organization to subsidize the orgnization's income. Our local Hospice store does that for things that just wouldn't sell for their value locally because of lack of interest.

[Bayard]

5. Good luck with that....

I'm trying to decide what to do with the collection of photo albums my Mom had. My brother dumped them on me, since all of our other siblings are gone. I have no idea who most of the people are in these old black and white photos.

What do you do with something like that?

I myself, collect Native American and wildlife artwork. And books.

[duncang]

7. Same here on the photos.

But I did buy one of the photo scanners and started getting them on memory sticks. Split them up into folders with which of the four families they came from. But have a lot more to do. I have two 32 meg sticks full so far. But probably less then a sixteenth complete. Some of them I may go to a professional for. They are way too big for a scanner or take pictures and crop to size. I know my daughters will want some maybe all of them. I did post a lot on ancestry so they are id’ed who’s in the pictures.

[Bayard]

8. That's a thought

Then what do you do with the originals?

[duncang]

11. That will be up to the kids.

I’m pretty sure they will want some. But by making them digital they have options. Keeping originals can get tricky. High humidity and heat can cause a lot of damage. Since we can expect power outages it’s almost a certainty that they will end up in a sad shape eventually.

[Bayard]

13. I can't believe some of these from the 40's are still in decent shape

[duncang]

23. I've got some from the late 1800's

My great grandfather sitting on a steam tractor. Some of both sides family pictures from then also. I did get one family picture professionally digitally restored from around that time. It was in rough shape. Both my mom and dad were the oldest and ended up with those. I think they would have appreciated me posting them. My brothers looked at all the pictures and ended up giving almost all to me. As a family we were the ones who had multiple copies made to hand out. But they knew I had always been really interested in them. I was the brother with the 35 mm camera and swappable lenses. Then the one later with the digital camera. I’ve got the family brownie camera’s also in a display case now.

I really need to get back on and post more. My brothers like having the family tree and pictures online. Most of the comments are laughing about someone having the massive family forehead. No Matt Gaetz jokes. We aren’t related.

I burst my wife’s family myth. Yes, they did have Native American blood. But in her generation it would be generous to say a sixty fourth.

[HeartsCanHope]

9. If you know the area where the majority of your ancestors are from try a historical society in the area for the photos.

Historical societies can sometimes help you identify people in photos, too.

[duncang]

12. I was lucky and met a lot of them.

My wife went through and wrote down on the backs of the photos people on her side before she passed away. I’ve done the same thing. The pictures I posted on ancestry I put the names. I do need to get back on to add more. I had my subscription for a year. Plus both sides of my family had family trees they kept up with. I got a lot of pictures from my aunt. She had also written down who people were. My mom wrote down some of the stories behind the pictures also.

[HeartsCanHope]

16. It's so thoughtful that you are posting them on Ancestry for others!

Thank you!

[AllaN01Bear]

10. model trains . patch and belt bucke . stamps .

friend of mine and his brother got rid of his collection of coins on fleabay i have a simple will. sis gets all of it and if my healthcare worker is around ,,, he will clean out the apartment and get rid of everythimg. i view my self as a steward of these things and am transitory in this life , meaning i am only here for a short time .

[duncang]

15. Have/had a collection of caps.

From where I worked. Bunch of them from when I worked offshore. Already gave a bunch away. I think I still have about 20 left. Gave all my records to my son already. He likes vinyl.

[Archae]

14. I know I'm pretty weird...

I have a few coins, including an aluminum coin from Italy.

A few stamps.

My Little Pony figures.

Spyro the Dragon figures.

Metal models of the Star Trek ships.

A number of other assorted things, knick knacks I've picked up here and there.

[AllaN01Bear]

18. i have some mlp and some mlp knock offs. , smurfs and minions , love minions .

[Archae]

19. I have the Minion, "Otto," who has a helicopter backpack and can fly.

Briefly. Up and down.

[AllaN01Bear]

20. cool. the minions and smurfs are on my train layout. since it is very small, i rotate things in and out .

[duncang]

22. My wife and I went to North Carolina

Our neighbor who used to live across the street collected doll and beanie babies. She had special shelves built in all the rooms including the hallway. Before she downsized and moved to a smaller place she got a lot of enjoyment from them. She was upset some on the beanie babies when the price dropped out. But she still loved collecting. I think it’s normal to find something that catches your interest.

I went too deep into coins. I would sit with a magnifying glass and study the coins trying to find variations. I would mark the holders which one they were. My wife eyes would glaze over when I told her I found X die set variant. So yeah, I thought of myself as weird. But I enjoyed it. That’s the main thing..

We ended up dropping off stuff at the post office. The everything you can fit into the box under a certain weight deal. The post office guy says what’s in there rocks. We laugh and say yes.

With us we ended up saying no more rocks. When you end up directly storing stuff after you just bought it in cardboard boxes you’ve gone too far. We went through the rocks picking out the best and displaying those we liked best.

[HeartsCanHope]

29. I wouldn't call any of your things weird, and I'm jealous of the Spyro Dragon figures!

[crosinski]

17. Glass animals and ceramic turtles here.

I have no one to leave them to. I still enjoy them and they don’t really take up much space, so I suppose I’ll keep them until the end.

[duncang]

24. My youngest daughter

Is into frogs. She kind of went off them now. But can’t quite get rid of them yet.

[Marthe48]

21. Pace yourself

My husband and I collected our whole marriage. He passed away in 2017, leaving me with a houseful + of stuff. I didn't do much until the Covid lockdown, and then I sorted. Our kids, grandkids, don't collect like we did. I've told them all to put their name on anything they want, but not much is tagged. I'm doing better now, have a better lookout. There isn't a time line for clearing out.

[duncang]

25. I kind of like doing it.

Something to keep my mind occupied. Also revisiting some of the items bring back some of the fun.

[Marthe48]

26. I agree

Sorting out a box of stuff sends me down memory lane every time.

[MLAA]

27. Dear Duncang, the two silver dollars and two liberty nickels were destined to be together!

Sending you hugs as you take care of everything. Your kids and grandkids will cherish their proof sets.

[Keepthesoulalive]

28. Cross collect

Advertising memorabilia from the 50’s and 60’s and old radios.

[AKwannabe]

30. Good story

Thank you

From a rock hound