[sbfinley]

I come from a family of collectors of all sorts so it is only natural I found something to lighten my wallet as well. Aside from this I dabble in coins and Beatles memorabilia (particularly non-English 45 picture sleeves). My mother collects Kennedy family memorabilia and her father had an amazing collection (so I heard, it was pieced out before I was born) of Revolutionary War-Era Freemason material.

I have several close family members (I won't define their relation) who collectively have a renowned rock and mineral collection. The whole rock-mineral scene is weird because major collectors remain well-known while still "unknown" because of a legal technicality usually allows the Mining Company and/or State-Nation that operates the mine the rocks normally originate from the sole claim of ownership of all materials that come from the mines. Most of the rocks/minerals that are in private collections are "smuggled" out by miners and sold on the market. Thus technically a mine/state can legally lay claim to someone's personal collection (some rocks the size of a fist sell for several thousand dollars regularly) if they can prove that they came from their site, which is sometimes easy because particular mineral formations can often to traced to a specific location. It is a somewhat hilarious situation in which affluent well-to-do collectors often meet in basements and garages to trade and deal in secret.

Finally, when my father passed away I inherited part of his classic car collection (64 Impala SS, 56 Bel-Air SS, and a 1970 Chevelle). I also care take his huge Coca-Cola collection that I hope to catalog this summer.