As you might guess a
lot of new medical collectors find this web site and ask for advice on what
to collect and how they can start their collection. My best advice is
always to buy Edmondson's book on medical instruments and go from there if you are interested in Civil
War or other 1800's
surgical antiques. If you want to collect in other areas, please go to a
topical site and ask questions there.
If you are looking for
a place to start buying, I would strongly advise you to take an organized
approach to tracking items of interest on
www.ebay.com in the 'medical' or 'Civil War' section.
You have to dig a little, but pick items of interest, save them as
'favorites' and see how the bidding goes until the end. Do it
for a multitude of items and learn how much others are paying for given
items.
Don't even think of
bidding on eBay until you are sure you know what you are doing.
Check on www.AuctionSniper.com
once you get to the point where you want to bid. That is what the pros
do and you should too. Try tracking other bidders and see what they
are finding. You just save the bidder's eBay namecode under 'bidder' and see what they
are buying.
Like any hobby, this
one requires lots of study and time. Take your time and read
everything on this web site because there in no need for you to re-invent
the wheel when I've already done a lot of the work for you.
Knowledge is your best advisor:
buy books!
By Michael Echols
How I started
collecting
Who collects medical
antiques
Advice for new medical
collectors
So you want to buy a Civil
War surgical set!
Mental Games and
collecting: how to make a
decision to buy
Dating surgical items:
how to determine when it was made
Pricing
surgical or amputation sets: generalized information
Condition
of instruments and sets
eBay and medical
collecting
Getting started
collecting medical antiques
Surgical
instrument Identification and usage: photos of various instruments
Trepanning instruments in cases,
identification of instruments
Finishes on instruments
and handles: how they are used
to date instruments
Altered surgical
instruments: how it harms values
Civil War instrument makers:
a list of contract makers
Surgical set locks and latches:
a comparison for dating sets
Comparative photos
of an 1850 and a later 1860's Gemrig surgical set
Books and references on
American Surgical Instruments
Civil War Surgical
Manuals and collector books
For a extended list like the one above,
see the
Topic
Indexes
