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mr. moses I have 150+ items that are mounted and framed. I don't keep them in a safety deposit box:-) and like to enjoy them (although admittedly I have some stored in my closet as I don't live in a mansion). My best pieces are in my best frames and I have spent upwards of 400.00 to frame my best piece. I have no plans to sell my best pieces. I enjoy them more than if I had put them in a plastic sleeve (not cheap either 20.00 - 30.00 for a large one). I try and make a note on my inventory if there is some kind of damage that I have matted out. In going to SELL a piece, it is generally best to NOT have it in a frame for the reasons outlined above (buyer's assumption that something is being hidden is reflected in a lower selling price, added shipping expense, damage, and the person may think your choice of framing as weak). If it is a high dollar item and the frame enhances the image enough to warrant the extra expenditure; it should at least be considered. A frame is also decent protection as long as you are not sending it somewhere. The deception part is tricky. Always someone out there trying to separate you from your money.
I think somehow the thread got away from the original post as to restoration. I collect photos, antiquities of all types, fossils and rare minerals, and more. Again they are not in a box. If I wanted to keep things in a box I would store money there. I like to enjoy my things until I go to sell them (some things might be joining my in my coffin), and hope that when they sell it is at or above what I paid for them. Then the holding them part was a double bonus as I got to "use" them for free. If they sell for less then I paid "rent". To each their own:-) Care is a necessary component of ownership to me. Things made their way to me in one piece and I'd like to see they get to the next guy in the same condition. Restoration and conservation are available and recommended services depending on the situation at hand. I have no need to see a 100 year old item look as if it was made yesterday. Age and foxing are expected of old paper items like posters, advertising, and photos and I think lends a credibility factor to the mind and the "eye". Cleaning seems perfectly acceptable of ANY item if that's your personal preference. It can also help when one goes to sell an object. I think it is even acceptable on a card as long as the original structure and composition have not been altered. Cleaning a piece of dirt off a card is different than reconstructing a corner or flattening out a crease (although if the original dimensions remained the same and nothing else changed because of it, I could see an argument that the crease removal IS ok unless it was manufactured with one). Conservation by definition ensures an item will be stabilized, cleaned, and even enhanced BUT that the object (usually paper) can be brought back to it's condition before the conservation. Hard to see anything wrong with that unless there is the deception thing again; and there's not much you can do about that. Conservation is absolutely necessary to protect or prevent ongoing damage that would lead to further degradation of an item (including de-acidifying paper or stabilizing rusting on a tin, etc.).
Restoration is a bit different and usually is more of a structural or aesthetic solution to an incomplete or "broken" element or group of elements. Many great works of art and antiquities wouldn't be much to look at without some restoration (AND conservation-they are not mutually exclusive). This conservation/restoration argument (especially about cards) has been going on since I entered the hobby 15 years ago and I guess went on long before my arrival ALTHOUGH cards weren't trading for 100,000.00 and up and it was when third party grading of cards was in it's infancy. I think the answer is that's it's what the "hobby" accepts in it's most general terms by the greatest number of people who have an economic interest. Just my nickle (2 cents long gone - it was I believe the cost of a seltzer water back when guys like Barry were born)......