Discussion What are your collecting goals?

Question , The " Confederate States Mail Line " Was this part of the RR system in the south ? I bought this document off of Ebay in England of all places along with a T. Ashby Cav. document due to the price was right. This is not area that I collect so I am ignorant on this subject. The Mail Line Document list passengers ,seats ,where too, where from and dollars. Among the passengers listed a Col. Pyles and Col. Boyd Feb 6 1865. From Thomasville to Monticello . Thank you for any info. that you can share, Greg
I suspect this was a stagecoach line since there was no railroad connection between these two cities.

Have a look at my web site: www.csa-railroads.com Confederate Railroads
 
I've gone through many collecting phases, beginning when I was in Junior High and my mother gave me my first cavalry saber back around 1960 or thereabouts. I was mainly interested in the Civil War but couldn't really afford much until I had graduated from college and gotten a real job, but even then I was more an accumulator - which I still am! I have a "collection" of many different collections. The problem is that I've been obsessively interested in different and somewhat unrelated historical periods and have accumulated items from them all. Beginning around college it was the French Napoleonic era; I've actually found firearms and swords locally at antique shows and shops and even flea markets, plus traveled to Paris and London to see real examples in the primary museums there. After that, for around a decade in the 1980's and 90's it was the American Revolution, although I actually collected little, satisfying myself instead with visiting all the primary locations and museums from Georgia to Upstate New York. However, I did acquire a few smaller period pieces like mirrors, chairs, and clocks, several of which I've posted in threads here. Around the beginning of this century, I "rediscovered" WWII and with the curse of Ebay began a pretty serious collection of items and arms. Of course this is currently the centennial of WWI and that too has been tempting: just yesterday I bought my first British Brodie helmet, although I'd seen them for decades at gun shows and flea markets.

But throughout all this unrelated activity, I've always returned to the Civil War "between" these distractions. I suppose the real downside to it all has been that had I remained focused, by now I could have a killer collection like at least one of my reenacting and collecting friends has. On the positive side, I relatively seldom turned my collections in the manner of another friend so still have things I've bought over the past half-century. An exception was my collection of French pistols which I sold when I moved to a fellow collector; the price paid for half my house! (It was a very CHEAP house.) During my college years and soon thereafter I foolishly traded off my small WWII collection, much of it "brought back" by my stepfather; those items have since skyrocketed and been so heavily faked that that pile of unquestionably authentic items would be nice to still have! Also possibly a mistake was my decision to thin out my collection of Civil War era swords and sabers, of which I consigned about a dozen pieces to auction a decade ago, as I've described previously here in a thread.
 
I've gone through many collecting phases, beginning when I was in Junior High and my mother gave me my first cavalry saber back around 1960 or thereabouts. I was mainly interested in the Civil War but couldn't really afford much until I had graduated from college and gotten a real job, but even then I was more an accumulator - which I still am! I have a "collection" of many different collections. The problem is that I've been obsessively interested in different and somewhat unrelated historical periods and have accumulated items from them all. Beginning around college it was the French Napoleonic era; I've actually found firearms and swords locally at antique shows and shops and even flea markets, plus traveled to Paris and London to see real examples in the primary museums there. After that, for around a decade in the 1980's and 90's it was the American Revolution, although I actually collected little, satisfying myself instead with visiting all the primary locations and museums from Georgia to Upstate New York. However, I did acquire a few smaller period pieces like mirrors, chairs, and clocks, several of which I've posted in threads here. Around the beginning of this century, I "rediscovered" WWII and with the curse of Ebay began a pretty serious collection of items and arms. Of course this is currently the centennial of WWI and that too has been tempting: just yesterday I bought my first British Brodie helmet, although I'd seen them for decades at gun shows and flea markets.

But throughout all this unrelated activity, I've always returned to the Civil War "between" these distractions. I suppose the real downside to it all has been that had I remained focused, by now I could have a killer collection like at least one of my reenacting and collecting friends has. On the positive side, I relatively seldom turned my collections in the manner of another friend so still have things I've bought over the past half-century. An exception was my collection of French pistols which I sold when I moved to a fellow collector; the price paid for half my house! (It was a very CHEAP house.) During my college years and soon thereafter I foolishly traded off my small WWII collection, much of it "brought back" by my stepfather; those items have since skyrocketed and been so heavily faked that that pile of unquestionably authentic items would be nice to still have! Also possibly a mistake was my decision to thin out my collection of Civil War era swords and sabers, of which I consigned about a dozen pieces to auction a decade ago, as I've described previously here in a thread.
I've sold a few collections I'd like back myself. When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I had an adult cousin who worked for the TOPS Baseball Card Company. He used to bring me shopping bags full of cards, which I then assembled into complete sets and threw in a drawer. A couple of years later, I sold them for a pittance. As an adult, I traded an outstanding collection of Waltham watches in order to focus on the products of another company, E. Howard & Co., on which I eventually became the leading published authority. I then sold off my Howard watch collection when putting my daughter through the University of Pennsylvania. A few years later, I began playing clawhammer banjo and ended up acquiring four instruments, three of which were custom made for me, and are of collectible quality. In the past several years, I have reentered the active ranks of watch collecting, focusing exclusively on watches with Civil War provenances.
 
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I've sold a few collections I'd like back myself. When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I had an adult cousin who worked for the TOPS Baseball Card Company. He used to bring me shopping bags full of cards, which I then assembled into complete sets and threw in a drawer. A couple of years later, I sold them for a pittance. As an adult, I traded an outstanding collection of Waltham watches in order to focus on the products of another company, E. Howard & Co., on which I eventually became the leading published authority. I then sold off my Howard watch collection when putting my daughter through the University of Pennsylvania. A few years later, I began playing clawhammer banjo and ended up acquiring four instruments, three of which were custom made for me, and are of collectible quality. In the past several years, I have reentered the active ranks of watch collecting, focusing exclusively on watches with Civil War provenances.

Alas! The only cards I ever amassed into a complete set were - what else? - THESE: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/civil-war-news.82748/

image-17-jpg.jpg


But at least I still have them all!
 
My goal was to get personal items, folk arty type whittled or crafted items. But as I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve decided to give up on cw collecting despite not really getting far into it. I have one last possible ancestor who may have served and it’s not looking likely. So now I’m reaching back further to Waterloo, which I have proof of my direct ancestor fighting in. Unfortunately the Waterloo forum I know of hasn’t approved me. I’m sure collectors have snapped up all the good Waterloo stuff by now.
 
My goal was to get personal items, folk arty type whittled or crafted items. But as I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve decided to give up on cw collecting despite not really getting far into it. I have one last possible ancestor who may have served and it’s not looking likely. So now I’m reaching back further to Waterloo, which I have proof of my direct ancestor fighting in. Unfortunately the Waterloo forum I know of hasn’t approved me. I’m sure collectors have snapped up all the good Waterloo stuff by now.
Good Luck !
 
I like to dig artifacts of all types lost during the civil war. Because I'm digging them, it is important for me to record the locations of the artifacts. My ultimate is when I find an artifact that has either a soldier or unit connection. The information I get from researching the artifacts is very exciting indeed.
I enjoy recording my artifacts on my relic collecting software.
 
Can't believe I just now saw this post. I started off like most, collecting a little of this and that, until I had a sizeable collection but had no reasoning to it. I then started over, sold off most of my initial collection and concentrated on 2 themes: Union Navy artifacts, and Indiana Identified artifacts. What I like most is identified artifacts, and pieces that tell a story. Through making acquaintances and friendships, as well as auctions, I have been fortunate enough to acquire rare artifacts that even most museums do not possess. This was only possible when a lifelong collector either passed away or sold off their collection in retirement. And sometimes, shear luck in being at the right place, at the right time. I have been very fortunate.
 
Like James N. I can mostly be described as an accumulator. Growing up in an aviation family in a Naval Aviation community, a lot of my early collecting involved aviation artifacts. My most prized artifact is Tom Blackburn's personal Colt 1911 and holster that he carried in combat in the South Pacific when he commanded VF-17, also known as the Jolly Rogers. It's a long story, but I got to know Tom in his later years, and got first hand the story of his life, his combat experiences, his carrier command, and so much more. He specifically mentioned his Colt 1911 3 times in his book about the Jolly Rogers. He really valued it. I treasure it.

My CW collection is again, an accumulation. In my collection are muskets, pistols, a cartridge box (Union), bullets, gun tools, a large stash of primers from a CSA blockade runner known as the Minho, a few things from the Maple Leaf, a Union Navy ammunition box, the cabin bible from the USS Shokokan, Enfield accoutrements, a first edition set of the ORs, some UCV pieces, a Union Cavalry sabre with initials scratched on it, and so much more. Going forward I would like to add some definite CSA identified muskets.

I collected some German WW2 pistols and other items as well. I got burned on some faked stuff which really turned me off. I still have most of my Mauser pistol collection. I say most because my wife convinced me to sell some of them, and I don't know why as we have never really needed the money. I let go of an awesome Broomhandle Mauser, fully matched rig, a super nice Walther P-38 AC-43, a Femaru Luftwaffe marked, a Radom, a Waffenampt PPK, and some more that I care not to remember. I still have my unissued Knight's Cross. Growing up on the Westside of Jacksonville Florida, I got involved with the glider club at the local airport. In the club were some German WW2 pilots who were working for Volkswagen of America. I got to know several of them. One in particular had stopped flying alone because of his age and would ask to fly along in the 2 place gliders and he would spring for the tow fee and glider use fee. I flew him with me a number of times. At the end of day we would consume some brewskis and enjoy the fellowship. One day when the flying was at an end and the beers were consumed I allowed that I had a nice collection of Mauser pistols. We adjourned to my house to have a show and tell of my collection. The German gentleman, I wish I could remember his name, took particular interest in my Mauser HSC. A few weeks later he said he had something he wanted me to add to my collection. He gave me his shoulder holster he had carried in aerial combat in WW2. In his last action he was attacking a B-25 down low and got hit in the head by the return fire from the tail gunner. He remembers nothing after that and when he regained consciousness the war was over and he was being cared for by his wife. At some point he had bailed out and still had all his gear except for the pistol in his holster which was a Mauser HSC. He kept the holster through the years and through his move to the US. It was quite an honor for him to give me that holster. From the marks inside the holster it was clear that an HSC once resided there.

Maybe that's enough for now, it's getting late.
 
I started young, (still am, I turn 17 this October), and I'd like to build my collection bit by bit until I have a collection that will be how people remember me. Specifically, artifacts with very good provenance will be my main focus. Bullets mostly, a plate or two if I'm lucky, and some shells for sure f I can afford them. No wife, No kids, just me, my job and my collection. That's my goal.


Folks remember the Tom Dickey collection, the Norm Flaydermann collection (I know I didn't spell that right), the Mike O'Donnel collection, etc.

I'd like for folks to remember the Ethan S. collection.
 
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