New Inherited Collection

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First, take good high resolution pictures of the knives, especially the Randalls and the Ed Fowler knives. Those you should have insured, and documenting them in detail will help in doing that. Get both sides of the knife, any sheath that is with the knife, close-ups of any markings etc, and try to include something in the picture for scale such as a small ruler.
Second, contact Bernard Levine here - https://www.knife-expert.com/appr-k.htm
If you don't know who he is, just google his name. He is one of the worlds foremost knife experts and appraisers.
Bernard would be the go-to guy to get an idea of what you have. Paying him to evaluate this collection would be well worth the cost.

DON"T rely on anyone who is a dealer of any sort to tell you what the knives are worth.....ever.
DON"T let anything go until you get an evaluation from a reliable independent source who isn't interested in profiting from flipping expensive collector knives. You have a ton of knives that are potentially quite valuable. There are unscrupulous types who troll this forum looking for threads like this, hoping to contact the owner of the knives privately and buy them quick for pennies on the dollar before anybody realizes whats going on.

Most importantly, don't touch anything, leave the knives just as you found them. No cleaning, polishing, or anything else.
 
000Robert said:
I upload 960 X 720 photos here all the time. I think that reducing the byte size is the main thing, but I never asked a mod about it as far as I can remember.
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I remember reading the 800x600 somewhere here(a suggestion rather than a hard fast rule but at some point I will get failure to load errors), probably just a recommendation for server space. I’ll go slightly larger sometimes depending on how I crop photos.
 
3fifty7 said:
I remember reading the 800x600 somewhere here(a suggestion rather than a hard fast rule but at some point I will get failure to load errors), probably just a recommendation for server space. I’ll go slightly larger sometimes depending on how I crop photos.
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Just use Imgur.....its far easier, size is irrelevant as Imgur has an image size option if you want to use it (also the forum software does an auto-sizing thing to keep the pictures to a size where scrolling around isn't needed, but clicking on the pics will bring up the full size version)....but please, don't down size when uploading to Imgur as high resolution pictures are much better than grainy 600x800 pics, and you can upload a huge amount of full size pictures on the free account.....I have almost 2000 right now....
 
Wow, I need family members like this guy's uncle.

Wait. I am that family member. Darn it.

Sounds like the OP got an interesting bunch. Even if they were all Case knives they'd be worth a bit, but there are a bunch of fairly valuable knives in that pile. I'd consider grouping them by manufacturer or maker and taking photos (folders open and sheath knives out of the sheath). You can post here and people will identify, and since you have a gold membership now, we can give general ideas on prices.
 
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B burke1253 I'm in a similar position of recently inheriting a collection, but mine is 1/10th the size at ~200 knives. My father in law loved knives and guns. His collection is a lot of traditional folders and bowies.

I'm following your lead here to see how this unfolds. I see that you bought a Gold membership. I'll do same when I'm ready to sell. I'd like to get involved in discussions first since I'm a new member.
 
3fifty7 said:
I remember reading the 800x600 somewhere here(a suggestion rather than a hard fast rule but at some point I will get failure to load errors), probably just a recommendation for server space. I’ll go slightly larger sometimes depending on how I crop photos.
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My photos from my camera are around 6 MB. I reduce them down to around 100 KB. I copy the photos, then paste them in MS Word, then copy them and paste them in MS Power Point after setting the "Layout", to "Blank". After stretching the photos to fit the frame, I click 'File', then 'save & send', then click 'change file type', then click on 'JPEG file interchange format' to change the file type, then click 'Save as' right below the JPEG. Then rename the compressed photo if you want to and save it in the folder/file that you want. Your photos will always be compressed to the same size and about 100 KB each. Works for me.
 
000Robert said:
My photos from my camera are around 6 MB. I reduce them down to around 100 KB. I copy the photos, then paste them in MS Word, then copy them and paste them in MS Power Point after setting the "Layout", to "Blank". After stretching the photos to fit the frame, I click 'File', then 'save & send', then click 'change file type', then click on 'JPEG file interchange format' to change the file type, then click 'Save as' right below the JPEG. Then rename the compressed photo if you want to and save it in the folder/file that you want. Your photos will always be compressed to the same size and about 100 KB each. Works for me.
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If you've got that routine down, it's probably no big deal for you. But it would be much easier to use Irfanview to resize the pics, you can even do them in batches.
 
TC said:
If you've got that routine down, it's probably no big deal for you. But it would be much easier to use Irfanview to resize the pics, you can even do them in batches.
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Yep, I've been doing it that way for many years. They are all the same size, and I don't have any problems with them.
 
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With 2K objects to analyze, you have quite a task ahead. I think it would pay dividends to think about how you want to organize your organizational effort.

I'm not going to offer systemic suggestions unless you ask, but I would suggest one thing - give them your own personal serial number, and get some labels on string (not stickers) for them, so that you can easily connect any spreadsheet entries, emails, etc. back to the physical knife, which would be indexed by your serial number.
 
I only use my iPhone for forums, and often wonder how my pics (size and quality wise) and others come across on a desk top computer.

I remember on the old days of Gunbroker forum and everyone now and then someone would come through with a posture so large you would have to scroll left, right, up, and down to see the whole thing.
 
burke1253 said:
Hey Y'all. I recently inherited my Uncles knife collection so I'm very new this world.. Seems like a lot of rules about what I can say or post. So please let me know of this post is even allowed. Anyway, im loving learning about the collection and cant believe how little i knew about his hobby. I'm looking for a jumping off point... about where to understand value and what to do with the collection. I m definitely interested in getting rid of a bunch as its just too much, but would like to retain some as a collection for me and the kids . Over a 2000 knives and counting. Several dozen Randalls, hundreds of Case's , some called Cold Steel, a bunch I can't figure out, a handful form a dude named Ed Fowler ... Looking for some advice on where to start.. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Should I just keep researching? or hire someone to appraise? not sure what i want/should do... Thanks. BB
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If you’re close to Atlanta I know a guy
 
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