Hoarder’s envy, collector’s pride

A pastime, hobby, or even an escape from reality... collectibles mean all these and more for a collector. Lakshmi Palecanda lists out some of the most expensive prized possessions ever

Paintings, jewellery, stamps, coins, bottle caps, dolls, rubber bands, pens … Why do we collect things? Is it, as one dedicated collector called it, a genetic defect? Or did we acquire this habit as an evolutionary behaviour? The ability to hoard things that are of some use to us is sure to aid us in natural selection, isn’t it? And is collecting the same as hoarding? Is man the only species who hoards, or are there other animal hoarders as well?

Well, here’s a fun fact. Man is not the only species on earth who loves to accumulate things. The brown rat hoards small gadgets and coins. Rats nests have been found to contain such artifacts as empty lipstick tubes, religious medals, belt buckles and coins. The decorator crab collects materials and living organisms from its environment and adheres them to its shell, mostly to camouflage itself and ward off predators. The satin bower bird collects stuff, especially blue things like flowers or bottle caps to decorate its nest, even stealing blue clothespins. The female chooses the male with the prettiest collection.

You and I might think a pebble is just a small stone and kick it around or throw it away. But to Adelie and Gentoo penguins, the right pebble may be the way to building a good nest and finding the female of their dreams. Pebbles are scarce on the frozen, barren coasts of Antarctica, and so these penguins work really hard at finding pebbles to make their nests. Also, when a male penguin woos a female, he offers her a pebble. If she accepts it, it means she likes him too, and they mate for life.

Squirrels are the greatest of animal hoarders. They store acorns or hazelnuts in hollows of trees. Some dig holes, but bury nothing in them, just to fool other animals. Some squirrels also have cheek pouches, so they can store food in those too. Other animals like hedgehogs and badgers don’t cache food themselves, but are quite happy to steal from the stores of other animals.

Collector's pride

But man is hands-down the biggest collector of all. Though his first ever collections might have been firewood, ancient man also collected stones, shells and various hunting trophies.

As civilisation evolved, so did collecting. Julius Caesar was the first to use the word ‘collection’ for the gathering of different objects together, in one of his speeches. Collecting was the hobby of the wealthy and royalty, and the actual work was left to the slaves, who were entrusted with the job of classifying and studying things.

The most ancient collection is one of small stones of different colours in forms resembling animals. It was discovered by archaeologists in Altai, in West Siberian region of Asian Russia, and is about 4,500 years old.

Ancient Athenians regarded the original manuscripts of their poets and playwrights chief treasures of their city and displayed them in their temples. Another well-known collection was the Aristotle herbarium. Aristotle also collected manuscripts and maps and was the first to accumulate a library in ancient Greece. He passed on his love of collection to Ptolemy I who later became king of Egypt and amassed the greatest collection in the Ancient World. Alexander the Great of Macedonia founded the legendary library at Alexandria which ultimately comprised of as many as 7,00,000 manuscripts – the entire body of knowledge of the ancient world maybe. Unfortunately for us, not one of these manuscripts survives.

For the thrill

So what makes people collect things? One reason could be that they want the thrill of the chase. To find out who owns the item you want, if he’ll sell it, who else is after it … the hunt can be quite absorbing. Or it could be collecting things to preserve a fond memory – souvenirs, perhaps. Some collect celebrity belongings because these objects somehow absorb the essence of the person who owned them. Some people collect to exhibit, some just to enjoy the presence of the item in their possession. Yet others acquire rarities as investment, hoping to sell them for a profit once they appreciate in value.

Children usually love to collect things for a variety of reasons. They do it for fun initially, but end up increasing their knowledge about objects. It gives them control when they decide what to take and what to leave, also helping them in categorisation based on shapes, size, colour and other criteria. It can be a sign of individuality, something that is special about them, or it could be a group activity, and they want to be a part of it. Children’s collections evolve as they grow and form an interesting part of their life’s narrative.

Collecting is absorbing and gives great pleasure to people of all ages. However, the problem is it sometimes gets addictive. When all you do when you acquire an object is start planning your next acquisition, chances are you’re addicted. It may become pathological when it begins to interfere with living a normal daily life or results in you going broke. It was the Turkish Sultan Ahmed III’s obsession with collecting tulip bulbs that brought down his empire.

But remember, collecting is not hoarding. The difference between collectors and hoarders is quite defined. Collectors usually are organised, while hoarders are haphazard with their things. Collectors organise their possessions, and are usually able to lay their hands on the one they want with ease. They also tend to be proud of their possessions. Hoarders, on the other hand, have piles and piles of stuff picked up indiscriminately and don’t have a clue as to where to find anything. They are also ashamed of their obsession. Collectors may be willing to part with some objects in order to acquire others, but it’s not so with hoarders.

What makes the cut

So what do people tend to collect? Well, anything! One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Somewhere in the world, there is a collection of 30,000 toe nail clippings. Before you retch, it’s for medical research, so that’s okay. But a man by the name of Graham Barker collects his own navel fluff, and his beard clippings. And some people collect human hair. John Reznikoff is in the Guinness Book of World Records for his huge collection of human hair. His collection has pieces from Marilyn Monroe, Napoleon, Albert Einstein, Abe Lincoln and his assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He even struck a deal with Neil Armstrong’s barber, much against Armstrong’s wishes, getting his permission to own his hair finally, by donating a large sum to his favourite charities.

The other sickening collectible is works of art produced by serial killers. The criminals do not benefit from the proceeds themselves, however. Nazi memorabilia also falls within this detestable category.

Though they deal with ordinary objects, collections can be interesting. American Tucker Viemeister collects toothpaste tubes and Russian Grigori Fleicher collects toothbrushes. Tucker started his collection in mid-80s, and now has over 200 from all over the world, and Grigori has 1,320 toothbrushes. German Ralf Schroeder collects sugar packets, and had 14,502 different sugar packets as of May 14, 2013. Retired grocer, Christopher Crawcour collects fruit stickers (he has over 30,000 of them), and American Roger Thomas has over 10,000 glass milk bottles.

In what must be the noisiest collection, Mark McKinley started collecting talking clocks by accident in 1990, and now owns 954 of them, the oldest dating from 1911. The problem with them is they don’t always keep correct time, so chimes and time announcements echo through McKinley’s house all through the day. A North Carolina man, appropriately a dermatologist, Manfred Rothstein owns 675 back scratchers from 71 countries. Carol Vaughn from Birmingham UK has a huge collection of more than 5,000 bars of soap from all over the world. Not far out enough for you? Dieter Kapsch collects spoons … from airlines. He has an astounding collection of 1,760 spoons from 447 different airlines accumulated over the course of 13 years.

David Andreani from Italy collects coca-cola cans. He has cans from almost every country except Cuba and North Korea. A McDonald’s owner, Mike Fountaine, has a mind-blowing collection of over 75,000 pieces of McDonald’s memorabilia, including a Ronald McDonald mascot. Italian Lorenzo Pescini owns a collection of 8,650 different bottled water labels from 185 countries and 1,683 springs. Jozsef Tari has well over 5,200 books, yet he has the world’s smallest library. He owns the world’s biggest collection of miniature books.

German woman Bettina Dorfman’s Barbie collection is any little girl’s envy. She owns a whopping 18,000 Barbie dolls, many of them in duplicate. Their overall value is unknown. Next one is Singapore’s Jian Yang with 9,000 Barbies from 50 countries.

A bizarre collector, Marilyn Mansfield has 500 custom-made dolls, each costing up to $1,000 each. Her collection includes creepy ones and those from horror movies, but she loves them all. Not bizarre, you say? Marilyn spends three hours a day, washing them, dressing them and even taking them to the park. Still sounds normal? Just wait till you hear this: Marilyn wants to be buried with them. Except for a few that she would like to give away, she wants the rest to ‘go with her’. She is serious. She has even discussed her last wish with her husband.

Ssh... heard this?

Perhaps the most bizarre of all collections is the one that Maryland native, Frank Warren, owns. Believe it or not, Warren collects secrets. Yes, people send him their deepest confessions by postcard, other objects and email, telling him their secrets anonymously. He does publish them however, picking ten a week, on the PostSecret website. He has also published six books full of secrets that people have shared with him. Intriguingly, one secret in each book is his. Incidentally, the project itself was one of his secrets – his wife didn’t know her husband was publishing it until the first book came out.

Now let’s enter the world of expensive collectibles. The first issue of Stan Lee’s crime-fighting web-slinger comic, The Amazing Spider-Man comic, sold for 12 cents on release day. Today, it is worth over $40,000. The other valuable book is none other than the Gutenberg Bible, the first book that was ever printed. Somewhere out there, there are 42 to 48 copies that are over 500 years old, and valued between $20,000 and $100,000. Then, there is a porcelain vase from China’s Yuan dynasty. Decorated with white and blue patterns, it costs a mind-blowing $1.2 million.

An autograph by a man named Bill wouldn’t be worth millions, unless he happened to be William Shakespeare. He left behind only six signatures – three on his house deed and three on his will – and all of them are now owned by private institutions. If ever sold, they would be worth anywhere between $3 and $5 million.

Understandably, the most expensive collectible would be the world’s largest diamond necklace which is adorned with 90 white diamonds, totaling 407 carats, set in rose gold, with an enormous, egg-shaped diamond as its centerpiece. It is worth nothing less than $55 million.

Now for the really expensive stuff. Many of the world’s most expensive collections are held by religious organisations, museums and governments around the world. For example, the Vatican has a priceless art collection of the Old Masters like Raphael, Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci. The Mona Lisa held in the Louvre Museum in Paris is valued at $2 billion. The UK government owns the British Crown Jewels which are valued at about $3.8 billion. There are many private collections also, but quite a few collectors prefer being anonymous and the extent of their collections remain unknown.

The most valuable collections of the world involve such varied things like fine art and cars, thoroughbred horses and Faberge eggs, rare coins and stamps and fine wine, Chinese porcelain, gems and watches.

Syrian-born Ezra and David Nahman are art dealers whose collection is estimated at $3.3 billion. Their 300 Picassos alone are valued at around $900 million. However, they are not art lovers but canny businessmen who see art as a product that can be sold for a profit. In the world of coin collectors, King Farouk of Egypt had accumulated a fabulous collection. Now there is another collection, called the Tyrant Collection, that far surpasses his, that is owned by an anonymous collector.

The unquestionably most valuable thoroughbred horse operation is Godolphin Racing, owned by Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, He has the most extensive horse breeding operation in the world with facilities in six countries and more than 1,000 studs and broodmares.

The world’s most valuable jewellery collection is that of FM holdings, a company co-owned by American businessmen Kit Morrison, Todd Armstrong and Jerry Ferrera. To give an idea as to their value, they own the massive Bahia Emerald, a 750-pound stone with 1.7 million carats worth more than $500 million, as well as the Guinness Emerald. No one knows how many more gems are in their collection.

As for the extremely rare and expensive Faberge eggs, a collection of 12 eggs owned by Malcolm Forbes, the business magazine publisher, was sold to Russian industrialist Victor Vekselberg for a rumoured price of over $100 million.

And our own Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani has a collection of 170 Bentley, Maybach, Bugatti, Mercedes, and Rolls Royce vehicles. They are on display at his 60-storey home, the most expensive private residence in the world.

By now, I’m sure, you’re raring to start collecting. Collector Hunter Davies has some advice on how to be a collector. He says the first stage is accumulating, or not throwing a thing away. Things that look interesting, amusing, historic or good can be put away safely, just in case you want to start collecting them. The second stage is when you go accumulating actively. The third stage is when you buy what you already have in your collection because you want a better specimen.

The best advice he has to give is that you should collect what you love and not for an investment, because while the collection may not increase in value, it gives you pure pleasure. He also advises that you should exhibit it like a mini-museum and show your treasure to others. His most valuable suggestion? Don’t sell your collection, but give it away – you might be giving someone something they might never dream of owning.

I have a suggestion too – if you are not a collector already, begin collecting right away. It will add richness to your life (pun intended).