Inhereted record collection.

[Lou Erickson]

Not sure this is the correct forum, but I don't see a clearly better place...

My Grandmother passed away in April, and it seems I have inherited the record collection she and my Grandfather had. I've also inherited his old stereo... I'll likely ask more about it in the components forum...

I'm going to try and get the titles, artists, etc, of the albums in to the computer. Some of them, I may want. Some of them may need new homes.

A lot of big band, waltzes and some classical. I don't expect any of it to be really high quality.

Any suggestions as to things I should be looking for, doing, or not doing?

 

[Lou Erickson]

Oh yeah... There's also a cabinet of player piano rolls, right around 100 of them. Mom and Dad are keeping them, as they also have the piano. We mostly made it play today - it needs work!

I don't know if we need that many polkas, though.

 

[zumaro]

Proceed carefully - some of these things could be worth good money, particularly the player piano rolls.

 

[Sofronitsky0423]

Have the collection appraised by someone. Also check this site out classicalreference.com

 

[bigshot]

If old records are worth a mint, then I'm a millionare!

I've never understood the way some people seem to think records are worth big money. 99.9% of the records out there aren't worth more than a few bucks, and that goes for 78s back to the teens and twenties too.

Get a turntable, announce to your family and friends that you are collecting records, and you'll get more great music than you can listen to for free.

See ya
Steve

 

[Zanth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif If old records are worth a mint, then I'm a millionare! I've never understood the way some people seem to think records are worth big money. 99.9% of the records out there aren't worth more than a few bucks, and that goes for 78s back to the teens and twenties too. Get a turntable, announce to your family and friends that you are collecting records, and you'll get more great music than you can listen to for free. See ya Steve

Although all true (and some good advice too) don't underestimate some of the big compulsive spenders on sites like Ebay. There are plenty of folks who are OC collectors, the type that are completists. There may be some gem in that collection of yours waiting to be bought for big money by someone. Before dumping the stuff check out some spots that price well.

 

[velogreg]

Before you entertain selling any of the records look at all of them closely for visible scratches and album wear. Those two factors have the highest impact on value. An original Coltrane or Monk may have collector value if in mint condition but would be almost worthless if it is scratched and the album is falling apart. Separate the mint condition ones and concentrate on establishing any value on those first. This will save you a lot of time and frustration.

 

[Lou Erickson]

First, I have to decide which of them I want to keep.

This involves being able to play them. Knowing me, I'll probably play them all at least once. Who knows, I might love the sounds of Hawaii!

None of the jackets are really in mint condition. Most of the records themselves look pretty good. We've now looked at all of them, and I have a list of them in the computer. There are about 220 albums and 15 big box sets. Someone (my Grandfather, probably) really liked the Readers Digest box sets.

The piano rolls are interesting. According to the pictures I've seen on the Internet, ours are generally in very good shape. We tried playing several of them, and it was always the piano that let us down. (It's leaking vacuum badly, and needs tuning. Dad and I are discussing having it restored.)

 

[zumaro]

What kind of music is in the player piano rolls incidentally?