I have a real struggle with antique anything, but especially practical items. I pay for utility, and unless it is something like a photo or an autographed something or other, I can't see any value in paying more for something that's been used longer.

This is especially true with my cast iron collection. Having a pot that is 80 years old is kinda cool, but I wouldn't pay a premium for it just because it is old. I would buy it if it is in good working condition, and I would use it. If I want to hold a piece of history in my hands, I just go outside and grab a rock. Most of them I see are old. I do have a picture of Calamity Jane hanging in our kitchen. I have no idea what someone else might pay us for it, it's not one of the common ones of her. But it doesn't matter much because it was something she gave to a distant relative for helping her home one night after a bender. If you are going to preserve and respect history, that is the sort of thing you ought to do it with.

I suppose there are folks out there with an excess of wealth that have nothing better to do with it than to buy other people's very old junk at inflated prices and make claims that they own a piece of history. In my opinion, if they weren't the ones making the history with it, then how much intrinsic value can it really hold for them? I have guns in my collection from my youth. They are not what anyone would call high quality, and they are not in the best shape, but the have intrinsic value to me because of the memories I have of using them. I have no intention of getting rid of them, but even if I did, I wouldn't expect anyone would pay me thousands of dollars for them just because they are old and were used by me a long time ago.

When Grandad died back in 92, he had quite a collection of old cowboy stuff, gun stuff, and vintage tools. Everyone in the family was getting upset about what it was they wanted of his. I asked Grandma if I could have his old worn out pipes and a zippo lighter he let me play with as a young boy. He would sit with me, smoking his pipe, and tell me stories of his cowboy days till I fell asleep in his arms.

When dad died in 2003, My brothers and sister were all ready to fight about who got what. I asked for dad's old trumpet, which I played in school, and a couple of his japanese kimono figurines and some japanese artwork because he got that stuff when I was a kid and I thought it was cool, and no one else was much interested in it. I let the rest of the family fight over his boat and car and all the other stuff he had, including a bunch of old fishing gear he used as a kid and all his knick knacks from South America and Europe that he collected before he and mom got married that we were never allowed to touch, that was always kept in boxes in the attic when I was growing up.

I don't suppose that makes sense to some folks, but I have little more than a passing interest in antiques that have no intrinsic value for me. A mint condition pre-60s Griswald pan is still worth about what I'd be willing to pay for a new Lodge pan of the same size.