After "You" Are Gone...

[Bundtrock]

Have any of you thought about what will happen to your collection after you leave this world?

For me, my mate has zero interest in my collection, no kids.

I would think it possible that other collectors find themselves in the same situation, their close family members, friends, that they might have made provisions for in their Wills, really wouldn't have a clue IF they were left a collection or parts of a collection.

If you have pieces that are not inconsequential, monetary value wise, how do you intend to see to it that whomever gets your pieces are not cheated by someone unscrupulous?

[medals73]

While I don't plan on croaking anytime soon, I have already contacted a major auction house to undertake the selling of the high-end items and the fair disposition of the other things. Some items are "flagged" in my catalogue to go to specific individuals.

[CtahhR]

Mine are all in trust. There will be a museum one day, not tomorrow or the day after but one day. I have put a considerable effort in so it won't all be falling apart just because my hands aren't going to be around to hold it all together.

There are considerably more people though who only have self-interested ideas about the hobby and only collect to satisfy their own personal needs and desires rather than for any other or greater purpose. I'm not in it for that. This is a one way journey.

[deValcourt]

While I don't plan on croaking anytime soon, I have already contacted a major auction house to undertake the selling of the high-end items and the fair disposition of the other things. Some items are "flagged" in my catalogue to go to specific individuals.

A visual as well as verbal "catalog" is essential to my mind (and anyone stuck with my collection after I've gone to the next level of existence). I'm using Word only because I can write as much useful information - including translations when applicable - as I wish. This means photos of the obverse, the reverse and important details that even an idiot can use to do as they wish with the numerous items. I will allow the family and closest friends a shot at keeping all or part of the collection, but if they fail to do so or try to sell the items, they are to be reclaimed and donated to an as of yet undetermined museum.

Sometimes, I also use the ever-growing catalog to remember what I have when I am looking for something in particular.

Phillip

[GabrielMk3]

As CtahhR mentions; a museum.

I'm trying to work with the DPRK to support us, but they're kinda slow...
The EU Commission of Culture and Education might help us a bit.

We shall see... Some day I will at least create one museum, where maybe all the collections gather? With them who've collected em?

[Al-muell]

I always have a museum on my mind, but I believe I manage to open one while I am still alive.

However, I hold a few things that will probably go to a specified private hands.

[CtahhR]

As with most things in life knowing not only what you have but where it is is crucial. The entire collection is organised away in such a way that they are in the same order as they are listed. I scan and name everything that will fit in the scanner and the posts on this forum are a great example of a photographic record of what there is. Posting items on the forum is not only a help to anyone anywhere who needs assistance but it is also very handy when I'm away and need to refer to something in the collection. I have had many discussions with people which have ended up in me pulling up the forum to use it as a visual reference to the item in discussion. The forum works very well as not only an area to talk about things but also display them to the whole online world.

When I first made a "list" of awards in the collection (in 2007), knowing that things would soon get out of hand, the tally was 104 items. The list now runs to 5275 awards but I have not yet catalogued all of them. Parallel to that I have a very arranged "archive" of the scans with folders for each person inside folders for each nation. The folders are all named in the recipient's native language (and alphabet) with a transliterated name following if needed. This is now being expanded with text documents of translations of citations and the such as well as a text document listing not only every group with every item but biographies of each recipient to the full extent that can be ascertained. This is very much a work in progress which will probably take a few years to complete as there are over 500 names to dig into. I do not yet have a "list" of documents and other paper items apart from the archive of scans but there are thousands of those too.

Collecting as much information as possible and presenting it as simply and organised as possible is certainly going to assist anyone who needs assistance - including myself. This forum is also a great tool for sharing what I find out with as many people as possible.

The "problem" of a constant stream of new items coming into the collection makes it not only an constant task but there is the problem of shuffling everything away correctly and in order. This brings with it a demand on time. I am currently transferring most of the collection into a more uniform NATO issue storage which also brings its own joys and sorrows. This new way of storage should make things easier to put away, easier to find and easier to move. I like to have the collection as ready for transportation as possible at all times so it or parts of it can be where it needs to be as rapidly as possible. Many times I have been contacted by a museum curator only for the items to be in the museum within the hour. Discussions about displays, tours and museums are constantly ongoing and hopefully everything can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. I just look after the items, I don't have dominion over them.

Plans are in place for such actions to continue after I die (which could be any time at all) and hopefully the items now collected together will continue to be added to and enjoyed by as many people as possible. Hopefully nothing in the collection will just rot away in a dark box unenjoyed by anyone which is different to what will be happening to me (unless you count the enjoyment of the bacteria eating my dead flesh?).

For now I can only hope that a single stationary all encompassing display will occur whilst continuing to present items for everyone's enjoyment and education.

I'd also like to point out to everyone that collecting awards, militaria and related items is just one of my many enjoyments in life and I also have collections of other things which also take up considerable amounts of time and effort. These other items are generally less appealing for museum display (12000+ Records/Cds including 3800+ Beatles related which are somewhat catalogued, 130,000+ coins of which over 128,000 are catalogued, a 7 digit figure of stamps which are completely uncatalogued and over a thousand autographs which need to be catalogued). Acquiring new items always takes precedence over cataloguing.

I like a good haggle!

[medals73]

If there were decent focused national museums in the two countries where my collection is the richest (India and Mongolia), the items would go there without a second thought. But even if those museums existed, I'd have concerns over potential "leakage", public access, the lack of interest and expertise, or a patriotic agenda (the same problems as exist, for example, with British regimental museums). I find no excitement in setting up a museum named after myself of even a self-named gallery in some place far away from where the awards have historical relevance. I have seen the tragedy of the McKay Collection at the Smithsonian and the sad fare of the ANS collection.

[CtahhR]

Somehow, just somehow I doubt the collection of DPRK items here will be displayed in a Pyongyang museum any time soon. I have done displays and presentations of DPRK items in the past but nothing close to the scale of what could be done now or in the future.

Thinking about collections and the such in more depth there are also perspectives to look at. For example I see my own award group through my own eyes with a unique perspective. I know the entire story behind the merits and the bits of metal mean something unique to me. This is something that can not be reproduced nor displayed. No matter how hard I ever tried a recipient's perspective on an award can never be fully expressed to anyone else no matter how informed anyone is. Then my perspective as a collector has often surprised recipients of awards that have donated them to me. Often I can have more reverence and "book knowledge" for the awards than they do but at the same time I can not see or understand them as they do. I don't think this situation is unique to awards but it certainly isn't a universal thing. To Elvis his chair was just something to sit on, to everyone else it is Elvis's chair for example.

Once the recipient is gone the item is forever changed but when a collector dies the items may just change location or "ownership".

How about this for the discussion of some manipulated atoms!

[RedMaestro2]

If there were decent focused national museums in the two countries where my collection is the richest (India and Mongolia), the items would go there without a second thought. But even if those museums existed, I'd have concerns over potential "leakage", public access, the lack of interest and expertise, or a patriotic agenda (the same problems as exist, for example, with British regimental museums). I find no excitement in setting up a museum named after myself of even a self-named gallery in some place far away from where the awards have historical relevance. I have seen the tragedy of the McKay Collection at the Smithsonian and the sad fare of the ANS collection.

Ed, what are the stories of these two collections? (Were they award collections?)