I must confess to be one of the worse accumulators on this site. My gun room, to many, would look like ten lifetimes collections of shooters, low to middle grade guns and duplications of one purchase after another. It became a gun room after the third safe was too full to close and I got tired of buying larger safes.
I gave the two oldest children each a gun safe and let them choose 20 guns each to put into it. Some where first .22's, first shotguns and others were more valuable gun from a money viewpoint. Never thought my daughter noticed the Diana Browning before she reached out and picked that one. Live and learn as they say.
My three youngest children are years away from their turn so I have taken certain other precautions for them. A list of guns, for each kid, is in my will. Write it down or it is not official. Next is that every gun I own has been logged into a log book that has where and when it was bought, priced paid and how much it is worth, major or minor problems that I have found, etc.... Special comments if I like the gun and wish it to stay in the family. After the kids are taken care of that rest goes to auction. Let others deal with the selling and let the market set the price. Pay for the expert to sell them for a decent price and be happy. I sure was while I owned them and my wife will when she gets the check.
I did add up the numbers a few months ago and must say that if my wife knew how much was in the gun room I might meet with a nasty accident. You never grasp how much money can be stashed into guns without your realizing it. Buy a single $500-1,000.00 gun and you can tell others, at once, how much your collection is worth. Buy one at $500.00, then another at $800.00, then another at $1,000.00 then another and another and before you know it you have a tidy nest egg if you buy solid guns at a decent price. Do it for years and you can end up with ten of thousands of dollars. Just do not do it as an investment, there are many others which are much better.
