Personal items acquired as part of a purchase

[philliesfan]

I bought a stamp collection off of Craigslist (and what a buy!). I paid the $200.00 asking price and ended up with over $4,300.00 in unused US postage. There was a lot of other stamps in the collection. Also in the collection were certificates and awards from the collector. Apparently he had no family as it was a neighbor that was in charge of the estate. I enjoyed going through the collection and enjoyed reading his notes he had with some of the stamps. I could not get myself to throw away any of the awards or certificates and they remain in one of my boxes.

A second purchase was a collection of paper items, mostly pictures, that ended up being from the estate of Helen Chiotes. She worked in television and there were a lot of picture of her at many different events. There was also items like proposed TV lineups, Radio and TV convention programs and other paper items. I cannot throw any of the pictures out and they also are in a box.

Bob

[jimtigers65]

I attended a monthly 300 table antique faire with my daughter. Out of the blue she said it was depressing because all these items belong to someone’s parents. I teased her and she will be doing this with my stuff someday.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by jimtigers65

she said it was depressing because all these items belong to someone’s parents.

I often think about that at estate sales and antique shows, especially when I see WWII materials from someone's service, but I don't get depressed. Even though the relations a generation or two down the line just do not care, there are strangers who care about these artifacts. That snapshot from Great Uncle Leo's time at WWII airborne training means nothing to the family but someone will purchase it and enjoy it and research the subject and honor the person that way, and that's what I find redeeming about the process. It's much the same with cards: little Johnny is long gone but his T206 collection lives on.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by philliesfan

I bought a stamp collection off of Craigslist (and what a buy!). I paid the $200.00 asking price and ended up with over $4,300.00 in unused US postage. There was a lot of other stamps in the collection. Also in the collection were certificates and awards from the collector. Apparently he had no family as it was a neighbor that was in charge of the estate. I enjoyed going through the collection and enjoyed reading his notes he had with some of the stamps. I could not get myself to throw away any of the awards or certificates and they remain in one of my boxes.

A second purchase was a collection of paper items, mostly pictures, that ended up being from the estate of Helen Chiotes. She worked in television and there were a lot of picture of her at many different events. There was also items like proposed TV lineups, Radio and TV convention programs and other paper items. I cannot throw any of the pictures out and they also are in a box.

Bob

If the awards are from shows with stuff like Gold silver Bronze they're a sign that he had some much better items.

Certificates with a picture of the item are sort of like having a card slabbed, and are more reliable. For a lot of items they can make a huge difference in value.