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My vintage lighter collection lost value after one storage mistake
I've been picking up old Zippos and Ronson lighters at flea markets for about 5 years now, maybe 60 pieces total. Last month I stored them in a plastic bin with some old leather watch straps I also collect. The leather offgassed something that tarnished the chrome and brass finishes on at least 12 of my best lighters. I tried polishing them with Flitz but the pitting is permanent. A dealer I know in Portland said the set dropped from maybe $900 to $400 on a good day. I should have kept them in individual cases with silica gel packs, everyone says that. Has anyone else had a collection damaged by something they thought was harmless? What did you do to fix it or accept it?
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the_faith1mo ago
Man, that sucks. Leather is a sneaky one, sorry about your collection.
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