Thinking about selling my collection

[Indian Steve]

Howdy All, I've been collecting relics since i was 10 years old and am now 66. I have several hundred whole points, lots of hardstone, a few pipes, one nice Ohio pot, boatstone, a few drilled wolf? teeth, bone beads, and on and on. I'm thinking of selling my collection and just wondering what would be the best way? Most of the relics were found by my wife and me in the south-eastern US along with a couple of local private collections that i bought years ago. For many years, I visited local schools, museums, Boy Scouts and festivals showing relics, explaining their uses and giving away pottery shards & relics to kids. I have a couple of 5 gallon buckets of brokes and limited the collection to only whole or very nearly whole pieces. I know the difference between real relics and leverites although i have brought buckets full of leverites home just because i liked them. Leverites are not considered "collection pieces". They are just cool {at the moment" rocks and i like cool rocks. Here are a few pictures of some of my riker cases. Sorry for the picture quality. It is too nasty outside to take pictures today so these are quickies taken in a too dark log house. If i do decide to sell, it will be sold as the whole collection, not in pieces. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[pigeonman]

I too am in that situation to where i have terminal cancer and wondering how to sell my collection,i have 3 daughters who just don't care about them,as mention its a crap shoot putting them in auction and i have even thought about donating them to the local historical place,i don't have alot of time to decide as i have a vast local bottle collection and other antique items to sell,its very stressful trying to figure out things,one day you are collecting things and the next you have to figure this out.i have been collecting for 20+ years.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

I had yet to even think about this until Steve started this link. My kids won't live here, they're Yankeefied - Metro Detroit, and don't want to even come up this holler to visit. I guess they're terrified of the the hauntings which have occurred over the years, but since I came home and retired here, there has been no re-occurrence. Unless I can make a move to prevent it, "my world" will be sold and forgotten.

It is not just my treasures, I'm 71 and have accumulated quite a bit over the years. To me it is more the "heritage" kinda thing. From original settlers, it came down to me, and I fear it will end with me.

 

[unclemac]

I am lucky that I have a son who is very interested and goes with me on hunts, so he will get the house and its treasures... I also wrote a book documenting a whole lot of it so the stories are not lost. The integrity of your collection is important, or at least should be. Document as much as you can on as many pieces as you remember, even just a location and date. I'll bet more than a few pieces have great back stories too. You will never get what your collection is worth, but MAYBE you can find someone local with enough interest to really WANT it. That is what I do, I sniff around for folk that have hunted my specific water shed and try to buy from them. I KNOW my lithics and styles for the area so no one is going to pass junk off on me.

all the best, you have been a great addition to this site, your posts are no BS and your advice is sound. You don't tell newbies nonsense.

 

[Mackaydon]

In the early 50s I was going for merit badges in the BSA. Among those that I received were stamp and coin collecting badges. Who wants stamps today--very few--so that collection can be donated back to the BSA Stamp Collecting Merit Badge counselor--'paying it forward'.

Even though coins have a market today (but my kids don't want the collection) they still have sentimental value since each hole in my Blue Books has a notation--in their writing--of who in my family collected the coin. As I now think about it, maybe the solution is to sell the coins and keep the Blue Books--as a reminder of better, more fun, times.
Don..

 

[IDXMonster]

Over 20 years ago, a collector came and offered me $10,000 for my collection. I thought that he was crazy and didn't want to sell. The collection has entertained hundreds, maybe even thousands of people since then. There is a local yearly music festival {Floydfest} that gave me 2 five day passes, free tent pass, artist parking and 8 free meals worth over $600 in exchange for me doing 4 one hour display and BS sessions. It was a blast and i would do it every year if i was still able. Parts of my collection have been seen in dozens of grade schools, scout groups and other local festivals and several pieces went home with kids over the years. That really has nothing to do with monetary value, but does make them priceless in another way. I would greatly appreciate if anyone would take a wild guess as to value? I will not be insulted by any guesses. I have actually teased my wife by saying if they are not worth selling, I would like to be buried covered in them. {I plan on a grave in the backyard woods without casket and concrete wrapped around me}. Could you imagine some kid walking up to the root ball of a big uprooted oak tree a couple a hundred years from now and finding that pile of relics! Thanks Again for all of the comments and advice.

I’ll tell you what I would do. This doesn’t mean it’s what you will do, or should do. IF money isn’t a factor, I would find a relatively close museum and tell them that IF they put your collection on permanent display with your legacy as a hunter and collector attached to it on a formal engraved plaque, they can have the collection. If it moved fairly quickly, perhaps you could even help to facilitate the making of the display itself and ensure that what you want to happen is happening. It would be one way to live on the way you might want to....

 

[dognose]

I am hesitant to recommend donating to a museum, a permanent display agreement may work.

I used to talk to Ben Thompson a lot and he had a friend who obtained many relics from museums over the years.
The museums would have these donated relics and over the years the mass quantities and cost of curations were greater than budgeted. It was then these were placed into museum deaccession category and disposed of. Ben had obtained a few very nice relics this way.

Likewise a permanent display agreement 20 to 50 years later may take on a new meaning.

I seem to recall a recent column where a relic finder donated a new relic to a museum on such a display agreement. A number of years later the family desired the relic to be returned but original documentation could not be found. The museum kept the relic under the guise the relic was donated to a museum, not in a display agreement capacity.

I will search for this column.

 

[dognose]

Case in point
All American Museum Collections Are For Sale, Just Make An Offer
PUBLISHED: MARCH 31, 2020

 

[DeepseekerADS]

In the early 50s I was going for merit badges in the BSA. Among those that I received were stamp and coin collecting badges. Who wants stamps today--very few--so that collection can be donated back to the BSA Stamp Collecting Merit Badge counselor--'paying it forward'.

Even though coins have a market today (but my kids don't want the collection) they still have sentimental value since each hole in my Blue Books has a notation--in their writing--of who in my family collected the coin. As I now think about it, maybe the solution is to sell the coins and keep the Blue Books--as a reminder of better, more fun, times.
Don..

And Don, love ya man! I ain't selling nuthin to anybody. I owe it only to my kids and pray they will understand the REAL value versus the values posted today. Those stamps of mine and irretrievable history - tain't many around today who have that kind of history in their hands.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I am hesitant to recommend donating to a museum

Before Mom retired she was the creator and caretaker of the local museum in Stuart, VA. She hasn't been there in years now at 94, but she still has the passion - I need to get her over there to visit - would be an absolute delight for her. We gotta love our Mom's who are still with us

 

[DeepseekerADS]

And, to add to that, I've got treasures and things I've found, and I have my original settlers property.

I do have to think about what will go to my kids. They get the farm, period. But there are things I should delight others with = give them a sense of history.

Me - gonna end up in the ground someday anyway

 

[newnan man]

Damn, this thread is getting kind of depressing!

 

[IDXMonster]

Damn, this thread is getting kind of depressing!

You know what makes this thread a lot better? Your signature!! Now THAT, for those who can figure it out, is HILARIOUS!!!

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Calling Steve V.... @GrimReaper??

Nice stuff, but I couldn't afford to buy it, nor would I want it all. The Bone and Teeth though, yeah I'd like a chance at those.

 

[Aeds151]

I will take any complete pipes for collection

 

[uglymailman]

There might be some local Club or an "authority" in your area. Have them look at your collection. We have a Club in the next County who give a talk/appraisal here about once a yr.. Took my finds to be evaluated. Had a couple in the 75-100 range. It might be one item in your display box has more value than the rest put together. A friend who hunts all the time has several in the 500-2,000 range. That's a cool collection. Good luck.

 

[Tony in SC]

Deepseeker I know what you mean! I'm 73 . In this old tractor and hit & miss engine hobby it is easy to to go from collector to hoarder!! Over the years I've seen my friends pass on. Their poor wives now have to deal with 2 or 3 barns full of stuff and the vultures that show up trying cheat them out of it!! I started selling my treasures 2yrs ago. I don't what my wife to go through I've seen.

I had yet to even think about this until Steve started this link. My kids won't live here, they're Yankeefied - Metro Detroit, and don't want to even come up this holler to visit. I guess they're terrified of the the hauntings which have occurred over the years, but since I came home and retired here, there has been no re-occurrence. Unless I can make a move to prevent it, "my world" will be sold and forgotten.

It is not just my treasures, I'm 71 and have accumulated quite a bit over the years. To me it is more the "heritage" kinda thing. From original settlers, it came down to me, and I fear it will end with me.

 

[Trezurehunter]

That is quite a collection. Good luck in your quest to sell it. I'm sure it won't be to hard.

 

[newnan man]

It's not hoarding if it's cool stuff!

 

[Tnmountains]

Over 20 years ago, a collector came and offered me $10,000 for my collection. I thought that he was crazy and didn't want to sell. The collection has entertained hundreds, maybe even thousands of people since then. There is a local yearly music festival {Floydfest} that gave me 2 five day passes, free tent pass, artist parking and 8 free meals worth over $600 in exchange for me doing 4 one hour display and BS sessions. It was a blast and i would do it every year if i was still able. Parts of my collection have been seen in dozens of grade schools, scout groups and other local festivals and several pieces went home with kids over the years. That really has nothing to do with monetary value, but does make them priceless in another way. I would greatly appreciate if anyone would take a wild guess as to value? I will not be insulted by any guesses. I have actually teased my wife by saying if they are not worth selling, I would like to be buried covered in them. {I plan on a grave in the backyard woods without casket and concrete wrapped around me}. Could you imagine some kid walking up to the root ball of a big uprooted oak tree a couple a hundred years from now and finding that pile of relics! Thanks Again for all of the comments and advice.

I hope that whatever you do that it will make you happy and bring you peace. You have some amazing finds. I am like you and others faced with the same dilemma as no one in my family is interested.My problem is I am still enjoying hunting and active but my collections will out live me at some point.

 

[joshuaream]

Late to this conversation-

The last pieces you should sell are the good/memorable/high grade pieces. If needed, sell frames of the common ones, or sell them individually on ebay, online, at shows, craigslist, friends, antique stores, auctions, etc. For the majority of us, we have a handful of special pieces that are the ones that we look at and reach for when we want to check out a relic, keep those pieces. The stuff that sits in boxes, trays, buckets, or frames that haven't been looked at in 10 years are probably not pieces you'll miss as much as the special pieces.

Yes, the nice pieces are also the easiest pieces to sell but once gone the rest of the collection usually just looks empty. If I sold my top 50 pieces, my collection wouldn't be that interesting. If I sold the other 19,950 items I have stored, but kept my 50 top pieces I'd still be proud of my collection and could have a great table or two at a relic show. And it'll be easier for my wife/kids to decide to keep or sell those 50 items if they need to someday.