People who've sorted through family estates these days have often found a bag or can full of old coins. While some were put aside by knowledgeable collectors, the great majority were hoarded when the U.S. government quit making silver coins in 1965. Others were amassed during trips abroad, or during military service overseas.

For the uninitiated, these random “grab bags” of coins have proven bewildering. While the majority were common, subtle differences in condition, mint marks, dating and metal composition have made a huge difference in values in some cases. How could you have known what was valuable and what wasn't?

For us at Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales, old coins have been a long-time specialty. Our accredited appraiser has studied them for four decades, and has acquired the skills to quickly assess which have value, whether they be gold eagles, Morgan dollars, wheat pennies or silver schillings.

More importantly, Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales has generally gotten higher prices than a private seller could have hoped to get from a coin dealer. We've sold everything from scarce Carson City dollars and 20¢ pieces to silver pesos, both at our sales and through private placement with serious collectors.

So if a collection of old coins has come into your life, avoid the temptation to throw them at a dealer or spend them from the coin jar. A call to Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales has proven well worthwhile for many past clients in the same position.

Things that we find in a house full of memories and interesting objects are not always common. Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales is often tasked with the job of appraising items for client estates—both the things they're moving and the things they want us to sell.

Our estate sales have turned up curious items and interesting questions over the years. What was that iron wheel with the blade? A cherry pitter. What was the value of that Simpich molded figure from the 1970s? Surprisingly, over $1500. Is it legal to sell the human skull we found in the doctor's cabinet? In that case, it was.

Over the years, we've seen everything from 19th century Hawaiian calabash bowls to European fine  art at our sales. Sleuthing whether the pre-Columbian pottery is real or reproduction, determining whether the Wassily Chair is early or recent production, and knowing how to find the value of a 1984 Mercedes-Benz convertible with just 50,000 miles is a good part of what we do.

Fortunately, Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales has a strong background in antique and personal property appraisal. In addition to our on-staff certified appraiser, we have background in everything from Blenko Glass and Paul McCobb furniture to 1930 composition dolls and Georgian silver. We're also fortunate to have associates with deep expertise in fine art, Asian artifacts, coins, stamps and militaria.

For our clients, our appraisal background helps us find the right place and the right price to sell their heirlooms and special items. For our estate sale shoppers, it helps them feel confident that what they're buying is indeed what they think it is.

More information about our appraisal services is available on the Appraisals page of our website.

We were surprised at the end of last year to see how much our consignment business had grown.

Not every household can support an estate sale, and not everything in a house is appropriate to sell to the general public. For these situations, selling select vintage and collectible items in our retail galleries and shows is often a better alternative.

The client gets exposure to different customers, a professional selling agent, and anonymity. The collector buyer gets to see some of the most interesting and unusual items from the home, in a venue where their value may be more highly perceived than in a house sale.

When we say interesting and unusual, we're not kidding! Items we place privately for clients range from built-in furniture to one-of-a-kind art, often from dwellings where covenants or limited access make a public sale impossible. Security concerns, sentimental attachment and family embarrassment are other reasons items might not be right for a house sale...Georgian silver, family photo albums and erotic French lithography are examples of such items we quietly liquidate for clients.

Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales documents all items removed for sale, and regularly reports and pays our consignment clients, taking a surprisingly affordable sliding scale fee in return. More information is available on the Estate Services page of our website.

As we approach the fall season, people sometimes ask us why we take a few weeks off from conducting estate sales to do antique shows.

Things that we find at antique shows are often the very best things. We're often approached by consignors who need to sell a specific high-caliber item or collection, and the antique shows offer a chance to bring a higher price for our client. We sold a Florida client's C. Jeré wall hanging at July's Portland Expo Antique Show; she then referred us to a friend to hold an estate sale. Shows help us grow relationships which eventually lead to estate sales our collector buyers love.

Yet, things that we find at antique shows are often not things at all. Combing the antique show is more than a fun hobby for us; it's how we keep abreast of the market, which is in an ever-changing state of flux. Knowing current retail prices, trends and fads helps us identify and price correctly, so both the client and our shoppers at a Tampa Bay Total Estate Sale feel good about what we're helping them buy and sell. (By the way, '50s chalkware brain models currently go for $95 each.)

Fortunately, the Florida antique show season starts this fall, where we'll be selling consignments for client estates and exploring the market for our mutual edification. You can find us next at St. Petersburg's Sunshine City Antique Show at the Coliseum on October 17–19.

We were bemused when we recently read the The Wall Street Journal declare in an article titled That Perfect Dining Room Table? No One Wants It, Even If It's Free that the market for antique furniture had disappeared.

“When moving to a smaller abode...(they discover) their prized family heirlooms have turned into junk,” claimed The Wall Street Journal.  Hip young consumers choosing cheap imports at IKEA and Walmart were blamed for making “Victorian-style mahogany and oak...almost impossible to give away.”

While The Wall Street Journal was correct that obsolete items (pianos, pre-flat screen TV's and their entertainment centers) are tough sells now, our Safety Harbor estate sale defied its dire predictions. In a house owned by a transplanted New England collector, the antique furniture sold! From the checked upholstered sofa to the carved wood bedroom set and candle-stand dresser, almost every piece was gone at sale's end.

Perhaps more surprising was who bought this traditional furniture. A third went to dealers who were anxious to restore and resell in a market they saw as improving. Almost half went to buyers in their late 20s to late 30s, who recognized the quality of solid wood construction and the value in buying at estate sale prices. The rest went to neighbors who saw how old furniture could serve new purpose in an area of similar homes.

The Wall Street Journal has earned its reputation through its generally keen sense of the markets. But we at Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales have that sense as well, along with specific knowledge of our local antique and estate sale business that helps us defy common consensus.

People attending a Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales event often remark how organized things seem. We always appreciate hearing this because the houses we handle often don't come that way to start!

We tell our clients not to throw away anything until we see it, since things which look insignificant or time consuming—boxes of old paper ephemera, grandma's old kitchen stuff, a box of tangled junk jewelry—often prove to hold finds which thrill our customers and benefit our estate sale clients.

In one of our St. Petersburg estate sales, an old box in the back shed was unpacked to expose a scarce $450 Tootsietoy Buck Rogers play set. In another recent sale, several pieces of 14k gold jewelry appeared amongst the usual $4 costume pieces.

Our next estate sale is tentatively scheduled for this fall and features the lifetime collections of a 97-year-old woman. We can see the nice antique furniture and some interesting jewelry, but the home is loaded with boxes of who-knows-what. Once we find it, we leave it out for our customers to see...so keep following us.

In-home estate sales are more than a chance to find useful items at bargain prices. For our customers and us at Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales, they're a chance to get to know a family and their lives on a personal level.

We've met some really interesting people and seen the collections accrued over a lifetime of adventures. One recent sale included the 1950s field manuals of a geologist, which were purchased by a modern-day treasure hunting club. Another offered lovely furniture covered in needlepoint made by a master Scandinavian lace maker.  A third included the music collection, baby grand piano and organ played by a woman who directed her church's music program until she was nearly 100 years old.

Shoppers who come early to our estate sales get to discover what we discover—a home full of fascinating bits that tell the story of a lifetime. Since we leave all we find for our customers to consider, a visit to a Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales event is a chance for you to celebrate the uniqueness of a home and its former residents...and to find pieces from their lives to integrate into the fabric of your own life's story.

When clients call Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales for their initial consultation, they usually ask the question: “What can be sold at an estate sale?”

Our answer is that almost anything you find in a house might sell. Along with the usual antiques, furniture, household and garage items, a complete estate sale can include pieces of the house which are slated for removal or remodeling. Appliances, fixtures, cabinets, doors and windows have sold at our Tampa Bay area estate sales in the past.

One of our recent total estate sales was indeed total! Although the items were serviceable and in good condition, the clients and their realtor decided to use the estate sale to sell any and all of the kitchen appliances and fixtures; they planned to renovate the kitchen before listing the house. That meant an oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, under-counter microwave and all the cabinetry were available for shoppers coming to the estate, all in great condition and modern enough to give service in style for years to come.

For the clients, selling the kitchen down to the walls saved time, money and dump fees. For customers of Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales, our sales have offered a chance to replace aging or failing appliances, install cupboards in a garage or workshop, improve a rental property or revamp their own kitchen for a fraction of the price of new.

With all the work we have preparing total estate sales in the Tampa Bay area, people are often surprised to also see us participating in big antique shows like the Sunshine City Antique Show in St. Petersburg, and Renninger's Antique Extravaganzas in Mt. Dora.

Why do we do antique shows? Things that we find in our complete estate sales include antiques, vintage, retro and collectible items. While we leave those antiques and collectibles for our shoppers to buy at our estate sales in the St. Petersburg-Clearwater-Tampa area, we take consignment merchandise to sell at antique shows so we can keep current with what people are collecting now and with what things sell for at a retail antique show.

This helps our estate sale clients, shoppers and consignment sellers in several ways. For a client of Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales, our knowledge of the antique market in Florida means we can spot and appraise vintage items they might miss on their own. For our shoppers, it means that we can correctly identify antique and vintage items and price them at our estate sales at a fair discount to their retail values. For our consignment sellers, our presence at the antique shows offers an avenue to sell their antiques and collections in a retail setting, even if they can't have a complete estate sale at their home.

We have a good track record at Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales, generally selling 75-90% of what's in a home during an estate sale. But people often ask us, “What do you do with everything that's left?”

Our recent Safety Harbor estate sale provides a good answer. Though we sell huge amounts of merchandise, the sheer size of some estate sales leaves some volume remaining. Since our name is Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales, we offer our clients the option of having us totally remove everything that remains.

Once our discount day ends, we bring in buyers who will purchase some or all of what remains at the estate sale for a bulk price, raising more funds for the estate. Another service comes to the estate sale site and takes away any usable furniture and household items without charge.

After the furniture removers take all they can from the estate sale, we divide what's left into trash, recycling and serviceable used goods, which we take to donation centers which offer our client a tax-deductible receipt.

For our clients, Tampa Bay Total Estate Sales does a clean out which saves them hassle and time. For potential bulk resalers or donees receiving salable used household goods, we offer merchandise which can benefit at little or no expense. If you fall into either of these categories, we are always looking for people to work with at future estate sales in the St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Tampa and Sarasota areas.