Inherited collections

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Started 2 years ago by Charity
Latest reply from bandicoot
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Charity
Member

A few years ago my father-in-law, who was emigrating, gave (dumped on) us a heap of coins, medallions and stamps that he no longer wanted. As we had a newborn we just shoved them in a box in the junk room and ignored them. But now we really want rid. My husband has no emotional attachment to them and his father is happy for us to sell them - he just couldn't be bothered to do it himself.

This is all very irritating as we have no knowledge or interest in collecting. It is taking lots of googling to determine what will sell on eBay and I'm not getting very far. Dealers want to know what you have before they will talk to you as they get so many time-wasters. Right now I'm inclined to just sell all the coins to a jewellers for scrap, because as far as I can tell they are only worth the weight of the silver. But I feel bad about that, destroying pretty things, even though I'm trying to think of it as recycling. I haven't even started on the stamps yet...

Looking for motivation and sympathy here I guess. I know my husband should have refused to take them but it's too late now and I'm lumbered with them.

Posted 2 years ago #
lynda
Member

You certainly have my sympathy on this. I have helped others with clearing stuff other people collected, but haven't faced a lot all by myself. First give yourself some slack - you sound like you still have a small child, so I'm guessing not a lot of spare time. When I was counseling young mothers years ago, the most helpful thing we used to say was "lower your expectations" and by that I mean how much you can get done in a given day. Any chance your husband can lend a hand? If you select a manageable amount of the stuff and tackle it together, you might have some success you can repeat. If you can avoid serious pressure of time, the job might not seem so daunting. And who knows, there might be a treasure in there.

Posted 2 years ago #
elledee
Member

Also, rather than scrapping, perhaps someone on freecycle/craigslist has the time/expertise to sort through them. Yes, they may offer $100 and make $500, but that's still more money and less time than if you give up and toss them out.

Posted 2 years ago #
toberead
Member

EBay has a trading assistant service - they will refer you to local stores that do eBay sales. They might or might not be interested in your items, but a local store can probably give you an idea of whether the items are worth the effort or not.

http://ebaytradingassistant.com/directory/index.php?page=home

You might also check to see if your local area has a group related to Freecycle. Generally you can't list anything on Freecycle except items for sale, but my Freecycle group also has a "chat" group where people ask questions about the local area. It's a great resource.

Posted 2 years ago #
charmed2482
Member

did you mean you can't list anything NOT for sale on freecycle, b/c that's how the one i belong to is in my area

Posted 2 years ago #
Charity
Member

Thank you. I have managed to Freecycle some soccer-themed stamps and feel good about that as they are going to a cancer charity for auctioning at a fundraising evet. A dealer told me that the commemorative medallions are not sellable, just novelties, and to scrap them, so my husband has promised to take one round a few jewellers for valuation - we should get up to $400 for the silver, hopefully. Whether he gets round to it or not is another question of course!

Still plently in the pile to work through though. Anyone know what to do with an antique (1890s) camera?

I'm dreading the inlaws dying as they have so much of this random potentially valuable stuff. Plus they have 5 properties in 3 different countries, and my husband doesn't get along with his brother... I guess it is better that they dump some on us now so there is less to deal with later, although goodness knows what they are busy buying to fill up the space they create. Thank goodness my own parents have much simpler lives.

Posted 2 years ago #
Charity
Member

I didn't know about the ebay assistants, so that was educational, thanks. The ones near me only really want to do DVDs though.

Yes, my kids are young, turning 5 and 2 soon. Spare time is at a premium, but so is space! Naturally they've been showered with Xmas gift, particularly from the inlaws, but that's a whole other post...

Posted 2 years ago #
juliewash
Member

Let us all vow never to dump our collections on others after we pass on, unless we warn the person first and are really, really sure they want it!

About the guilt and sentiment: Can you put together a small "sampler" of some of the more interesting or pretty items? It could be displayed and then passed on to your kids as an heirloom.

About the sale: I would pick out a dealer, take the whole lot to him/her and just take whatever is offered. It's sure to be more that you're making just holding on to it, and if you make selling the items into a huge project you'll never get it done.

Posted 2 years ago #
Sky
Member

I'm with juliewash, nobody wants what someone else collects. Unfortunately, well meaning parents, grandparents, etc. place such a high value on their possessions and want to pass them on.

As I declutter more and more, I've really realized stuff is not the person. The fine Haviland china my Mom loved is just china and I can keep a teacup as a reminder of her and let the rest go. If I save it for my granddaughter, it becomes something she has to deal with. I would rather buy her what she wants when she is on her own.

Thank you for dumping your valued crap on me. Now, it is mine to do with as I please. Usually sending it on it's way to a new home.
It is okay to have my home like I want it and let all the guilt go! I not only want to live clutter-free but also, crap-free. Is that mean?

Posted 2 years ago #
Charity
Member

Absolutely; I'm so glad my husband didn't inherit the collecting gene. Although it did take me 10 years to convince him to part with his bag full of cinema ticket stubs that his parents had urged him to save!

My mother-in-law has promised her extensive collections of designer shoes and handbags to my daughter (nearly 5), who is very keen on this idea! I do hope she grows out of it.

Posted 2 years ago #
charmed2482
Member

i've already got an aunt promising me her collection of light up Christmas houses, b/c by the time i get them they will be worth a lot. i don't think her daughter wants them and she feels they should go to someone. she made sure to let her daughter know (who was standing right there) than she wanted me to have them. its kind of funny b/c they don't have a lot of stuff cluttering up their house, and they have a big nice house, i think they have some stashed where people can't see it, but i don't think its a lot. so it was weird to see her so attached to those Christmas houses that she had to make sure they got a good home after she was gone(which isn't any time soon, she isn't really old or in bad healthy or anything)

Posted 2 years ago #
HappyDogs
Member

An elderly relative (since passed) gave me those Mervyn's Christmas Village houses every year. I almost got rid of them -- there are so many they can't possibly fit under my tree. I took them to work this year -- man oh man what a hit! And plenty of space there to put them all out. Everyone really liked seeing them.

Posted 2 years ago #
Charity
Member

It turns out that father-in-law is so horrified by the idea of scrapping that he wants the novelty medallions back. So now we have to hang on to them till he is next in the country. Hopefully that will be in six weeks or so as his other son's wife is due to have a baby shortly. I guess we'll have to deal with them again in a few years (he's in his seventies) but at least now we know what to do.

On to silver dollars and random stamps...

Posted 2 years ago #
bandicoot
Member

i'm pretty firm about collections.
i don't start them and i don't want anyone else's dropped on me, thankyouverymuch.
my mother is a great one for starting collections, but she knows how i feel.
it really is a constant tendency though, isn't it. you have to watch it.
one day you've got one linen tea towel with cats on it and pretty soon BAM you've got ten of the brutes!

Posted 2 years ago #
Charity
Member

Too true Bandicoot. I have 3 real live cats so guess what what pictures all my birthday cards had on them last week?

Posted 2 years ago #
Laetitia in Australia
Member

bandicoot - I so hear you - I had a couple of interesting bottles so (since I had several other collections by that time) people thought I was collecting bottles and decided to "help" me with a collection I wasn't personally collecting up until then.

Another friend had a pair of novelty slippers she'd got in Canada (the kind with stuffed toy heads on the toes) so people thought she was into them and would give her others as Christmas presents (she's in the UK). When she met me she happily parted with a pair as at the time I had no slippers and autumn was marching on.

Charity - try asking a museum about the antique camera for either valuation or interest.

Posted 2 years ago #
bandicoot
Member

omg the bottles and the cats....too funny! i know how it snowballs!

i have six real live cats, so everyone assumes i am obsessed with all things cat.
no, i'm just obsessed with my particular six cats.
i don't want random cat shaped stuff or random stuff with random cats emblazoned on it to distract from the fact that it is just more "stuff".
i'd rather someone bought me a kilo of roo meat than ANYTHING ELSE....because the cats cost a fortune to feed.

i've really had to drum it into my friends and family for the last thirty years....please, no stuff.
it still creeps in though.
do i sound like a complete ingrate? i'm not really. throw me a block of chocolate or a bottle of good wine or a plant for my garden and i'm all over you.

Posted 2 years ago #

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