Family Silver Tea set

[Cookie]

Going thru more family stuff, came across my Grandmother's Silver Tea set, what do you do with these things.  I looked on the internet and it looks like it might be worth $3-400, but it needs to be polished, it could cost half that much to polish.  Nobody in the family wants it either.            Anyone have solutions or options for something like this, what would you do?

 

[dbart]

We are going through the same thing right now with Mom's stuff as she will be selling her house later this year.

My brother is putting stuff on Offer Up and having good success.

Might try that.

 

[Bobalos]

We found that you get pennies on the dollar for what was paid for it.   There was a local jeweler that would give you almost going price  for it in the wholesale cost of silver (in weight).  Wow does that not make sense...  Hopefully you get the idea.  Call around.. 

China is just trash.  We actually started eating on almost 100 year old China (daily, like normal dishes)  Might as well....  in 10 years it will be worth less than Tupperware.  

 

[Bobalos]

And we tried the offer up and Craigslist and ebay, nobody wanted it.  Crap our own kids don't want it... 

 

[Cookie]

You guys are reinforcing my thoughts, thanks

@Bobalos, Kids want the tupperware, ha

 

[Mac]

We found that you get pennies on the dollar for what was paid for it.   There was a local jeweler that would give you almost going price  for it in the wholesale cost of silver (in weight).  Wow does that not make sense...  Hopefully you get the idea.  Call around.. 

China is just trash.  We actually started eating on almost 100 year old China (daily, like normal dishes)  Might as well....  in 10 years it will be worth less than Tupperware.  

My wife doesn't have kids and she was given her Grandmother's china.  It's well over a 100 years old.  We use it everyday.  Her philosophy is why not?  Who am I saving it for?

The world does not have a "keepsakes" mentality or value anymore.  I have a bunch of military memorabilia from my career, I'm sure most of it, if not all, will end up in the trash when I'm gone.

 

[Punchdrunk Monkey]

That's a tough one, we are cleaning up from parents and there is no value to the stuff, other than emotion. And I am not sure how you put value on that. You can't keep everything. I just moved my house and I had the same issue with MY STUFF. I threw away 2 dumpers of stuff I thought I needed. Sucks to throw it away, as I know somebody needs "stuff". But I am not going to spend my life trying to find that somebody. I found a mexican guy that would come across the border and take anything and everything. He was so appreciative.

 

[Bansh88]

The world does not have a "keepsakes" mentality or value anymore.  I have a bunch of military memorabilia from my career, I'm sure most of it, if not all, will end up in the trash when I'm gone.

I've got a bad habit of keepsakes and a fondness of militaria.  Put me on the list.

 

[Bobalos]

This is sad, but Im pretty sure that all of my stuff will also end up in the trash.  I did not keep a bunch of it, but there are a few scrap books & some pictures. 

The world does not have a "keepsakes" mentality or value anymore.  I have a bunch of military memorabilia from my career, I'm sure most of it, if not all, will end up in the trash when I'm gone.

I have to say Im not a huge sentimental guy.  my dad made a shadow box for my Granpa, & put it in his hallway next to his shadow box.  Then he made one for me & I had it hung up for a little while & when we repainted that room, I gave it to my dad to put in his hallway next to the other 2.  I think I hurt his feelings, but Im sure he know it was that or I would pull the medals out & throw the rest away.  & when Im gone (or retire & move), the medals will end up in the trash too........ 

what does burden me, is that my dad has a pretty extensive collection of "stuff" (mostly WWII) & I dont want it & my brother is likely to die before my dad....  Hell I could not even have it w/o going through all of the FFL bullpucky & then the CA bullpucky, for something I dont really even want............  and everyone of them are registered so ..............  its not like we could do anything on the DL........  IMO, its all very sad.  but.......... I can get a phone for $80 from Amazon, today, so ........... society has certainly gotten better over time.... sigh..

 

[Dune-Track-N]

Same just helped my parent move and they have three sets (silver, gold leaf and rose) of china, that they and my grandmother think are worth a mint (because at the time of purchase it was a status item that meant you had money to burn on "fine china"). Sadly none of us kids want any of it.

#1 it doesn't match our décor or usage, we as society no longer sit down for family meals or special occasions that warrant "fine china".

I told my dad why not melt it down and make jewelry out of it, even if it costs to have something made it would be a useful endeavor, maybe...