I've been collecting shells for awhile. In my experience, there's VERY little market for a full case of shells. And the buyer is likely to be more of a "dealer" than a collector and, as such, looking to get it "wholesale." This is a case where the full crate can never be worth more than the sum of its parts. In other words, anybody looking to buy the case is more likely interesting in parting it out than in collecting it and keeping it a "virgin."
The successful dealers have a variety of such cases. Once a year, they pull a box from the case and market it as "... a RARE FIND...a minty box, perhaps the finest in existence, blah, blah, blah." The diamond brokers are careful not to flood the market.
A couple of years ago, a fellow came across a full case of shells and asked advice on what to do with them. He was advised to auction them individually. He did so, but included a pic of the open case of 20. I bought one....for $60....to upgrade the only one I had ever seen prior....one I had paid $150 for 2 years earlier. By the time the crate was near empty, the market was saturated and they were selling for $40.
Personally, I'd offer a few boxes at auction, but as plain jane oddities, I doubt very much they would fetch more than $25 each, and only a few at that. If I could buy a similar crate in 16ga for $150, I'd shoot every one of them. 1940-1950's vintage ammo in that condition is every bit as reliable as this year's. In fact, I hunt exclusively with factory red paper 20's; and grouse are way too valuable to unnecessarily risk a misfire. The roll-crimped stuff, which dates coincidentally mosty pre-WW11, is much more spotty. I have a theory that ignition reliability is related to the pre- and post-war primer technology.
