Help Someone Start a Collection

Here’s a unique gift idea – help someone start a collection of some kind.

I got this idea initially because I saw that a friend of mine had a really cool collection he was building for himself. He started collecting stock certificates of companies that had either gone bankrupt or were no longer in existence:

Enron	Penn. Railroad Company	Gray Manufacturing Co.

He would buy them on eBay (search ebay for antique stock certificates) and then frame them. This collection made sense for him because he is a portfolio manager at a financial services firm.

(A train fan might also like this idea if all of the stock certificates were for railroad companies of yesteryear.)

My former brother-in-law had a collection of antique fans (search ebay for antique electric fans):

I have a small collection of antique mini oil lamps. I prefer the copper/brass bottom and glass top, but there are many, many varieties to choose from (search ebay for small antique oil lamps):

Here are some other ideas for collections:

• Foreign currency
• Vintage advertising prints
• Antique medicine bottles (check out Antique Medicine Bottle Hall of Fame)
• Flags from foreign countries (I have a collection of old Soviet Union flags)
• Chess sets
• Vintage signs
• Candle holders
• Coasters
• Comic books
• Movie posters – vintage or current (give allposters.com a try for both)
• Vintage/Unique T-Shirts

Feel free to share other kinds of collections that would make good gifts…