Jerry, you pose an interesting question ... one that a number of collectors in the hobby face as well.

First, I'm not a chip dealer, just a collector. But if you want to look me up on the show floor on Saturday, I'll be there until midday at least. I don't have a table, but ask around and someone can point me out. I'm willing to talk to you about your situation, if you like.

Before you attend the show, you might consider doing a 1-page flyer with pertinent information about yourself, your collection and what you're trying to accomplish. To hand out to dealers who handle chips like yours, and who may be interested in helping.

At a minimum, outline your collection more specifically -- numbers and types of chips, etc. from the various geographic areas. For example: 200 So. Nevada chips $1 & $5's - pre 1980 era; 500 same but 1980 to 2000; 200 - same but 2000 & more recent; 400 - Northern Nevada; 300 - Atlantic City; 300 Riverboats; 300 - Silver Strikes - All $10 Nevada; Special Millennium collection of xxx chips ($25 and $5's mostly) plus other related items, etc. etc. ==== The more specific the better. You get the idea.

Decide whether you want to "hire" and agent, who would represent your heirs in collecting and evaluating competitive bids from dealers or others, or do you want a dealer that will actually sell the items and convert them to cash. Either way, you'll want to align incentives such that the agent or dealer is motivated to get as much as possible, net of expenses, for your heirs. Probably a commission of some sort, but depends on what a dealer is willing to do. It can be labor intensive to disburse a collection.

One idea for you: What area do you live in? There are a number of local clubs, and your best bet may be to work with others in a nearby local club who you can get to know, and vice versa. A number of collections sold on behalf of heirs have been done through personal contacts (i.e. friendships) that were made over the years.

I do know of dealers who have taken on selling collections, and I may be able to suggest a few when I see you at the show. Since this event hopefully won't occur for many years yet, you'll want to look at how long an agent / dealer may be in business. We're still mainly in the first generation of dealers in our hobby, but in a few cases, a 2nd generation is coming along and/or younger-age dealers.

Depending on your estate's tax bracket, you may want to consider donating some items to the club's museum (MOGH) for a possible charitable deduction. I'm not speaking for the club on this, but if you have some historically interesting items (e.g. some unusual millennium items), there may be an interest in receiving them. The club can't quote a value on such items, but can acknowledge receipt. Appraisal, for estate purposes, must come from someone other than the recipient, or from your documented records. Again, this is not tax advise, just an idea for you to explore further if appropriate.

There are other considerations as well, but we can talk more at the show.