I keep seeing these opinions that the Millenials and younger generation have no interest in the vintage guns most of us like. There are repeated dire predictions that prices and values will tumble.
But year after year, with the exception of relatively short blips caused by recessions or bear markets, the prices of these old guns keeps ratcheting upward.
None of us knows when we will croak. For that reason, we need to let our wives or kids know just what we have and what it's worth so they don't get taken by the circling vultures that frequently smell death. I recently showed one daughter a couple MMC Checkering tools and asked her what she thought they might be worth. She looked at the tiny handpieces and estimated that they might be worth about $25.00 each. She thought the teeny dime sized extra carbide cutters might be worth a buck or two. I showed her some printouts of recent sales on Ebay where MMC Tools sold in excess of $750.00 without the Foredom CC motor and 8D hand piece to drive them, or the extra cutters. Those printouts of completed actual sales are in the boxes with them so that hopefully she will be intelligent enough to not give away valuable items that may not appear so valuable to someone who is not familiar with the item.
On the other hand, a friend texted me some pictures yesterday of a small gun collection that an elderly widow he knows wishes to dispose of. Each one had a Post-It-Note stuck on the buttstock by her late husband, with his estimate of valuation. A couple were on the low side, while most were the kind of extremely high wishful thinking 100% condition prices we see on guns that are relisted for years on Gunbroker and other sites. The only double was a well used brown roach Ithaca Crass 12 ga. with a poor replacement forend. I have no idea if the barrels are pitted, etc. His little note stuck to the stock said "Ithaca double- At least $500.00 on the low end." Uh, no... unless he has some provenance that it was owned by Teddy Roosevelt or something. I will be advising my friend to watch some actual completed sales of the same guns in similar condition on Gunbroker to get a more realistic idea of value.
