Whats Happens When You Die?

Not to sound morbid but I was wondering if anyone had plans for their collection. Now mine will never bring great riches as far as money is concerned however it is one of my prised possessions.

I spent many years building it and it is special to me. That is my problem it is special to me. I am trying to get my 12 year old daughter interested in stamps. It is too early to tell if it will stick though.

I would like it to stay in the family as a part of me handed down to future generations. However I'm worried if I don't get one of the girls interested it may end up either stored in the attic, tossed in the trash or given away / sold.

I guess I would like to think my collection is special and it would be a family treasure.

I have seen old timers sell their collections whilst they still lived..it seemed kind of sad to me...but they turned their collections into cash for their heirs..my kids 38,40 and 41 have no interest in collectibles or room to store my stuff..they will get a few hundred bucks from a dealer..that ok, its enough the stamps meant something to me !!

I haven't really thought that far ahead. I would love to see it stay in the family but if no one is interested I would split it up and give away to young collectors. I guess I'll have to see when the time comes. Hopefully not for many many years.

Dianne

The collection goes to my grandson Anthony...The 4th G

The stamps have been passed down from
My Grandfather #1 G {Thats who had the Zeps} to
My Father #2 G to
Yours truly # 3 G

Thus you can see how I got my handle BobGGGG or The 4G man

Actually, after my little incident in Honduras, I have given the subject a lot of thought. I decided that I needed to have my collection fully inventoried and neatly stored. I keep a running tally of the SCV and a realistic total sales value should my wife try to sell it.

I also made arrangements with several collectors I trust (some on this site) so she can contact them for help in selling or giving away my collection as she desires.

I'm still working on my grandson, and if he shows continued interest I will probably leave my goodies to him. If not, it won't be my worry - I'll be somewhere where you find an Inverted Jenny or Penny Black whenever you look through a kilo lot!

What happens when you die ? I keep thinking about the Paul Newman character in Hombre facing the two killers...very philosophical.."we all die..its just a matter of when" !

Death... mourning stamps and covers.... interesting.

David

My children all have there own small collections now. Hopefully they will have a continued interest and I can pass my stamps to them. If not I now have two Grandson who hopefully my show an interest when they are older. My wife just thinks they are silly pieces of paper but she does allow me to indulge myself so who can complain. I guess if no family would show an interest I would find a good cause. but like swabbie says it will no longer be my worry

Sometimes I see on ebay a collection that someone obviously spent countless hours and heartfelt care of. The collection is being sold off to the highest bidder by a family member. I saw some guy selling his grandfathers WWII medals on there with no respect for what they represented. It makes me sad to see someones memories and passions practically given away.

I would agree selling medals sounds a little cold..many people have no sentimental values..i always admired a shelf of beer steins at my sister in laws house that an uncle bought home from Austria in 1945...i thought her sons would cherish them..but when they sold her house they had no time for sentiment and tossed them in the dumpster..when I found out I went to the dumpster and retrieved 2 or 3 of them...i could not believe they would treat such fine things like that !

This is a tricky question about all of a person's belongings. I keep a few sentimental items from my Mom and Dad, but the majority of their belongings my sister and I gave to charity. The worse issue is when family members fight over "stuff" and then end up not talking to each other for years.

I want someone to enjoy my collection as much as I did. If it's not my family it will have to be someone else.

i would like my stamps and other things to stay in the family but all I can do is pass it down the rest is up to them.

I would like my stamps to go to my youngest grandson, but like you said --there's a lot of folks selling similar collections all over ebay. I have even bought a pile of stamps on there that had all the hinges still on them--obviously pulled out of some body's old album--so sad ,but then the stamps were lucky to find an appreciative new home with me.

Gussyboy1

Phil:

When I served in the Canadian Army, a number of us volunteered at the Canadian War Museum. We saw this sort of thing all the time. It's called 3rd Generation Angst.

Generation 1: Served in WWII and won a DFC w/bar. He claims he's no hero and says little about it.

Generation 2: The son... he thinks Dad's a War Hero and wants to be proud of Dad and tell his friends. Unfortunately, Dad never talks about the war, either because it's too painful or he claims "all the real heros are lying in the Canadian War Cemetary at Nijmegan". Son learns real early to shut up and never ask Dad about the medals he wears on Rembrance Day.

Generation 3: The grand kids... Dad died. Grampa's medals are there with Dad's stuff, but neither ever said anything. We do not know anything about them, and since neither Dad, nor Grandpa ever talked about them, buess their not worth much.

The angst? Either they find out a collector will pay $500 for the DFC w/bar or they don't even bother and toss it all in the garbage.

Solution (with respect to medals and War Vets...) TALK TO YOUR FAMILY ABOUT YOUR SERVICE. BE PROUD OF WHAT YOUR MEDALS MEAN. IF YOU DO NOT SHOW ANY SENIMENT TOWARDS THEM, YOUR HEIRS WILL NOT, EITHER.

David
... off his soapbox now...

When my granmother passes, I will get her stamp collection to add to mine. She has her mother's collection included with her accumulation. I know that there are not any high value stamps ie. Zepps in the collection because I have looked. Also, my great grandmother came from a poor family and did not have the means to obtain such frivolous endeavors, she clipped stamps from incoming mail. I also know that my collection has overshadowed my grandmothers collection to an extent (hers is probaly more organized). The point of all this is finding the right person, place, price that you are want for your collection.

I will be honored to accept this precious collection as a family heirloom when the time comes. I hope to pass along mine to my son and any other siblings he may have (we are considering a second child)when my time is up.