Barb's comments on Beaurocracy aside, i think donating the common
shells of a collection to schools or youth groups is a great idea, and
providing you don't want major recognition or tax credits, the
beaurocratic hurdles should be quite minor!!

Re "obscurities" - micro or not, i find that ANYTHING obscure (ie, not
often encountered!) sells quickly!!!

How you or your survivors dispense with or disperse *(both sound
rather horrendous but in general, the only collections which "should"
be kept together after their compiler no longer wishes to keep them,
are carefully documented assemblages from a region or locality (Such
as Kevan Sunderland's Carribean collection), or collections which
document a particular taxonomic  group (such as the Havilands'
Pectinidae collection!): most other collections are semi-random
batches of shells which have little scientific or historical value AS
A WHOLE, although portions of them might, if properly documented)*
your collection will depend  upon what you want from it.  If you want
"fast cash", then a direct sale to a dealer at 30 - 35% *realistic*
retail is best. For more money over a longer period, comission sales
(which a fair # of us dealers still do, by the way!!) are a good
route, unless you have the time to start up a little dealership of
your own.  As has been pointed out, in the USA at least, the tax
benefits are often minimal, so if you want loot, any type of sale is
usually preferable to trying to lessen the burden of the tax-man!
(which in the States is minimal anyway!!!).  If you want recognition,
a donation to the proper institute in the proper manner can be quite
effective, and of course if a portion of your collection has good
scientific value, it should be donated to an institution where it is
likely to be used by researchers (note: The scientific value of a
collection is largely determined by the quality and quantity of
**accurate** data which accompanies the various lots - unless a shell
is immensely rare (such as Conus primus), it is of extremely limited
scientific value if it has little or no data - many museum basements
are full of this stuff!!)

         If you want to do good with your shell-possessions, donating to a
charitable venture which sells shells for fund-raising is a good
option, and of course shell-clubs are always looking for things for
auctions and children's programs, and they feed back into the
Conchological world in various ways: few shells donated to shell clubs
go to waste!!

Becoming Cool in Canada,
Ross.

--
Ross Mayhew: Schooner Specimen Shells:
Http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com
"We Specialize in the Unusual"
Phone: (902) 876-2241; Fax: (603) 909-8552.
But try to find "something for Everyone"!!
Snail Mail: 349 Herring Cove Rd, P.O Box 20005, Halifax, N.S., Canada,
B3R 2K9.