I started collecting in grade school and am now 67. My first SA was $3.00 and bought Army Daggers in the early 1970s for $12.50 each, so I don't have a lot in my collection. What I bought over the years and kept, I financed with my motel buys and selling extras at the SOS, MAX and local gun shows. When I retired from Pharmacy and the wonderful State of Illinois at 57, Tom Johnson and I became partners in buying collections and from veterans and collectors and the hobby has paid for itself. My wife has been a great partner and knows the hobby as well as I do price-wise, so I am not worried about disposing of the collection. Several buyers are in line as most serious collectors know my collection well and are waiting. The German auction houses are also asking and have been to town and looked at the items and are on my wife's list of possibles. My wife and kids will do well when the time comes, as they don't have the interest. My son owns a music store and loves guitars, so he will buy some gold tops I am sure. It has been a great ride and the hobby has been very good to me. Those who say it isn't an investment just haven't been in it long enough. Its just like the stock market, the longer you are in the better it gets.
