Old rockhounds collection... any ideas?

[Littleone]

Hey all,
I'm new to this site, just joined because I have a question.. There is an old man here in my town in Rural America, who has been rockhounding since the age of "6" and will be 87 this fall. Unfortunately, his health has taken a turn and he'll be moving into a home here shortly. I fear saying to much and giving discredit to this wonderful man, but to say the least, he only has these rocks to his name. On his tiny lot in the trailer park, he has a small broken down trailer filled with Rocks... all hand picked, and mostly hand polished by Himself. Predominantly picture rock jasper, some opals and agate's as well.
Upon his decision to move to home, he can't take his collection with him and plans on sending it to an auction lot in the area to see what he and get off of it.
My boyfriend and I don't have a lot of money, but would like to buy the rocks from him, to keep them in the community, and make sure they don't accidentally get sold for a dismal amount. We don't want to undermine him though, so I was curious what people on this thread think his collection is worth, if it's worth trying to purchase or if he would actually make more off of it at a small auction lot..
below are some photos of a few rocks from the collection. He has a small trailer full of ones like it, some much larger, others smaller....

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[faribo]

Not nearly enough detail. If you were in MN I could help you.

 

[tokameel]

Welcome to T-Net Littleone.
Your heading caught my eye..."Old rockhounds collection... any ideas? " reminded me of something that my dad used to say...
"Old rockhounds never die, they just slowly petrify." Sorry.

 

[rockbar]

Ask the old man what he thinks might be a fair price for the collection. Lapidary rough is usually sold per pound. Once it is cut and polished, it's value increases, but can be subjective. The value goes way up when a piece is made into jewelry.
Look online for similar polished material. Maybe he has some idea of what he has spent on his collection over the years.

 

[dognose]

Yes I agree with rockbar. Ask him to give you a fair price what he would be satisfied with.

like many collectibles they are worth what someone would pay. If you give him a figure and he thinks its very low, he could get upset and cut off negotiations. By him starting the negotiations with what he feels is fair, you stand a better chance of success in my view.

 

[RustyGold]

It’s hard to put a price on a lifetime’s worth of work. Ask him what he wants for it and tell him you’d like to save the history of it.
Maybe donate it to a local museum. It won’t do too much good (history wise) just laying in the yard.