RIP, 1930s leopard

July 27, 2014 11:43 AM

I bought a box of miscellaneous vintage things, mostly fur hats. At the bottom of the box was a muff that appears to be made of leopard. I know that I cannot legally resell it on the Internet, or in any other way that crosses state lines. So what should I do with it? Keep it? Resell in my vintage shop space in my own state? Viking funeral?

I am in Maryland, for the record, and the muff was bought here as well. I am 90% sure it is leopard; if not, is is certainly some other spotted cat that is also endangered these days.

posted by nonasuch to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

When I had my vintage shop and this happened, I would trade it to collectors for other items -- leopard is valuable and rare, so I could usually get really good stuff in exchange. If the muff is in good condition, I would put a trade value of around $300 on it, maybe more. I was lucky enough to know a rare fur collector who also traded in mint-condition Victorian clothing, so that is usually what we would swap. Worked out for us both :)
posted by ananci at 11:54 AM on July 27, 2014

You could donate it to an animal shelter: they like old furs as blankets for the animals.
posted by suelac at 1:16 PM on July 27, 2014

Give it to a theater company.
posted by Madamina at 1:49 PM on July 27, 2014

Viking funeral. The world is better off without the furs of rare animals existing in the economy as objects of value. They should be monetary and social liabilities. Sighting such a fur in public should result only in social judgement of the possessor.

That said, if I really needed the money, I might take ananci's advice. I'd balance the good it could do my personal situation against the minor harm done by keeping one muff in circulation.
posted by pseudonick at 2:59 PM on July 27, 2014

ananci, that had not occurred to me! If I can find someone who wants to swap for it (and has the sort of stuff I want) that might be the solution.

suela, I don't think the muff would be appropriate for a shelter-- it's not particularly nice-feeling fur-- but that does give me somewhere to send more cuddly and worse-damaged pieces. (Also, wow, it sure is a small internet-- always nice to see a name from b.org!)

Thanks, guys.
posted by nonasuch at 9:36 PM on July 27, 2014

The National Wildlife Property Repository was set up for exactly this purpose. The Atlantic just posted a really fascinating video about the facility on their website.
posted by mollywas at 2:48 AM on August 3, 2014