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)

Best answer: 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 [2 favorites]

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 [6 favorites]

Give it to a theater company.
posted by Madamina at 1:49 PM on July 27, 2014 [4 favorites]

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 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: 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 [1 favorite]