1866 Baseball Cards

[M's_Fan]

There has been a lot of great advice given so far. My advice will be about one area that has not been considered: Taxes.

If you sell the photos for cash, you will owe capital gains taxes on your gain from the sale. If you donate the proceeds to the museum you will get a tax deduction.

However, if instead of selling you donate the photos to the museum, you will be able to take a tax deduction for their full value. You will not owe any capital gains taxes.

For example, let's assume a value of $5,000. If you sell the photos for $5,000 and then make a $5,000 donation, you will owe capital gains taxes on the $5,000 but also qualify for a tax deduction of $5,000. A wash.

If you donate the cards to the museum, you owe no taxes and likely qualify for a $5,000 tax deduction.

So if you don't think the museum is appropriate to hold these photos, and are considering making a large donation to the museum, the best thing would be to donate the cards and have them guarantee they will sell the cards. The museum is likely a non-profit and won't owe any taxes on the sale either.

For these tax reasons many wealthy individuals make charitable donations of appreciated stock rather than cash.

However, if you wanted to donate only a part of the proceeds to the museum and pocket the rest, then it would make sense to sell them yourself and make a cash donation.

Obligatory disclaimer: This is not tax advice or form any relationship, see your own tax advisor.