What to do with collections of stamps, coins, etc? (to help a widow)

[Random]

A dear friend who is 79 became a widow a few years ago.  Her deceased husband was a collector of things.  He left behind an amazing stamp collection with some rare and some mediocre stamps and a large coin collection.  There is a fabulous collection of Boy Scout merit badges and badges from events (camps and Jamborees and other trades he made) he and his son attended in the 1960s-70s, including everything from one of the son's Eagle ceremony.  There are a few other collections, but you probably get the idea.

 

These aren't high dollar, rare collectibles.  But, they are all much nicer than the typical, amateur collections.  The collector was a perfectionist, and spent 40ish years gathering special things for his collections.  In my admittedly ignorant opinion, he took excellent care of his collections and stored things properly.

 

She and I were talking over the holiday, and she thinks she will just have to throw it all away so their sons won't have to bother with it when she passes away.  None of the sons want to keep dad's collections.

 

I thought there must be something that can be done with these collections?  How would the widow go about finding someone to give them to, who might appreciate them?  I don't think she wants to sell them.  She doesn't need any money.  She is in a decluttering mindset, to make things easier for her children when she passes away, which is not imminent.

 

It feels wrong to just throw it all away.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Random

[maize]

eBay?

[maize]

I know you say she doesn't want to sell them, but posting on eBay gives you a huge marketplace of people with all kinds of interest. That is likely a good place to find someone for whom these would be a treasure.

Edited December 26, 2017 by maize

[Rosie_0801]

The scouts might like the scout stuff collection to display at their campsites.

[Mary in VA]

Contact a local stamp/coin store and ask for advice.

[Laurie]

Contact a local stamp/coin store and ask for advice.

 

 

But tell her not to say she's just going to throw them out/doesn't care about the money!   

 

My son collects coins, and the coin shop that he goes to buys collections from people.   Since she doesn't really need the money this should make it easier for her since she won't have to wonder if she's getting a fair deal or not.  

 

 

Maybe she could contact the local Goodwill?   I think some charities have people who put items like this for sale on ebay to get a higher price than they would get in the store.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Laurie

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well, my husband is a stamp collector for fun.  He'd love them.  We couldn't afford to pay a ton and he really is not into it for the money. 

 

However, I realize I'm just some random stranger so...LOL

 

I don't really have advice.  I imagine there are some places that could give estimates on value/worth. 

[Junie]

I would also recommend ebay.  She could just start the auction low and see where it ends up.

 

Ds17 has sold a few things on ebay to earn money for college.

 

 

Also, I agree with Rosie that the Boys Scouts might be interested in the memorabilia.

[SparklyUnicorn]

ebay or even craigslist (which might be somewhat easier because it is local)

 

 

[Karen A]

I've been in almost this exact position.  DO NOT THROW AWAY, please.  Is there an inventory of the collection(s) somewhere? That is  somewhat helpful in knowing value. If the collection is large, I think ebay is a ton of work, as the collectors I know only wanted to buy certain coins/stamps, not a whole collection, and wanted to see quality pictures of the items. I might be wrong though, that re-sellers would give a very conservative bid for the whole thing.  But sight unseen is quality unseen, and that's where the value of these items lie.

 

What I did was contact the local stamp collecting society (nice elderly men), and got pointed to a local dealer who looked through the whole thing, bought some from me, and donated the rest to the local VA hospital for "projects" for the vets.  For coins I would do the same thing, or just go to the local coin shop.  

 

If there are any high values (graded by the NGCS, or whatever that's called), she could even contact an auction house, send the collection there and have them value/sell it for her.  

 

I just read that she doesn't want to sell/doesn't need $.  Then I think she should donate the items to a charity, and they can do the above.  Or find a kid to put on ebay as a summer job, and he/she gets 50% of the profit and the rest to charity...

Edited December 27, 2017 by Karen A

[City Mouse]

For the Boy Scout stuff, you might contact the local council to see if they would accept that stuff as a donation.

My DH sold a bunch of coins that his father collected over many, many years. No one thing was valuable, but he got a few hundred dollars from a coin dealer due to the volume of coins. We never found anyone who would pay for the stamp collection that we had, so we eventually gave it to a charity to sell as part of a fundraiser.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Another stamp collector here who would contact a dealer.  I agree not to say that money isn't an interest.  She could always donate the money to a charity of her choice. 

[mom2scouts]

I went to an estate sale for an elderly neighbor and a woman told us that someone came and immediately bought all the Boy Scout stuff. Our local camps have Boy Scout museums and they want the BSA stuff. I had a huge, old stamp collection and gave it to someone who collected stamps for fun and who I know would enjoy it. Please do not let her throw the stuff away!

[OrganicJen]

Definitely either find a local coin shop for the coins or just find anyone to give them to who may be interested in taking the time to photograph them and sell them on ebay in exchange for getting to keep the money. Even if you don't think they are valuable, to a person needing to fill a hole in their collection they are important for them. They can just list them on eBay for a small amount and the people bidding are collectors who will know how much they are worth to determine their bids. They just need a close photo of the front and back. Hopefully she can find somebody who will be willing to do the work to list them in exchange for keeping the money. So many collectors out there might be very thankful if they found their way onto eBay.

[Acadie]

It's lovely of you to try to help her with this, and even though it sounds like money is not a concern and she simply wants to get rid of things, I wouldn't be surprised if it meant a lot  to her or to her sons, in the end, if her husband's collections are sold or given to people who would value them--even if it's just certain items in the collections. 

 

Plus the archivist/historian in me says don't toss it! You've got some great ideas in this thread for contacts for each of the collections.

 

Amy

[scoutingmom]

Absolutely don't throw them out! There are collectors that would love these items (even ones of little value) and would absolutely cry at the thought of the loss. - From someone who has collected coins, stamps, and Scouts Canada items, and others. Find some collector who wants them, or have someone do the work of selling them for a portion of the proceeds and donate the rest of the proceeds to a charity.

 

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[Random]

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies.

I'll meet with my friend this week and run these ideas by her.

 

After a brief search, it looks like the closest stamp dealer and the closest coin dealer are about 120 miles away, but that's still a pretty small town. We might have to take a road trip if she wants more than one option.

[Random]

mitch@mitchreis.com Mr. Reis buys Scout memorabilia. He is known for being fair.

He has an excellent detailed list of items he's looking for on his website. That is so helpful! Thanks for sharing this.