Help with some historical artifacts?

My fiance's great aunt and uncle are probably going to pass away by the end of the month. So they've been taking care of their wills and what not. My fiance is inheriting their house (they live in a house that used to be a plantation. It was built in 1823 I believe), anyways, it's been kept in the family and since we are getting married, they are giving it to us.

Not only that, but it has an old shed out back FILLED with a bunch of stuff. They were afraid to let their kids go through it because their kids were going to sell pretty much everything that belonged to them. So they allowed my fiance to go out there and take anything and everything we wanted. Well, there are TONS of stuff I found that I want to keep. I'm a history major and I love collecting old stuff. I don't want to give any of it to a museum as selfish as that sounds, though I do want to take care of these things and store them correctly. The house has a huge attic and I plan on putting everything up there in class cases and what not. A lot like how people display china in dinning rooms. Anyone have any tips to offer me about preserving these antiques?



What I've took was:



*A tin of musket balls from the Civil War

*A school text book that was PRE Civil War

*A lot of confederate paper money (I havn't counted it all out yet)

*A valentine from my fiance's great aunt and uncle

*A World War Two uniform

*A confederate Civil War uniform(with small blood stains on it that I do NOT want to wash off)

*An army dagger that was used in World War I

*A rifle from World War I

*A pistol from Word War II

*A gun from the Civil War

*A republican party membership card with Hoover on the front

*A journal of a civil war soldier(Someone way back in the family)

*A 1,000 dollar bill from Germany that has Adolf Hitler on the front of it

*Every single National Geographic magazine ever published up to about a year ago

*Sitting out in the garage is an original Model T.Help with some historical artifacts?
"storing them correctly" would involve a couple of things, most of which you probably aren't going to want to do..



museum storage keeps strict control over temperature and relative humidity.. changes in these conditions cause the artifacts to expand and contract needlessly, and weaken the structure of them so they're less durable...



in ideal conditions, you want to completely eliminate any sunlight from touching the artifacts.. sunlight fades colors, dries out organic materials and makes fabric brittle.. each type of material has luxe numbers (for setting lighting), to best preserve it...



the absolute best way to preserve something is to store it in a controlled environment and never remove it or expose it to light or oxygen... but doesn't allow for appreciation of the artifacts, so people never do that...



that's just a bare bones outline of the preservation basics... my suggestion is that you sell or donate afew of the items that you are less interested in to a local museum, that way the community can all appreciate and learn from them, and the life of the artifacts will be extended...Help with some historical artifacts?
Find an estate appraiser. Pay the money.Think about a lawyer.



You need an inventory and to get the items on your homeowners insurance.



There is also the question of heirs, estate taxes, probate and so on. Imagine you find something wonderful and valuable. What about "They were afraid to let their kids go through it because their kids were going to sell pretty much everything that belonged to them." Would those "kids' come after it claiming it's theirs? Could they claim that you cheated your fiance's great aunt and uncle? Is there a will? have they "given" you the items in writing? Could there be any question that it's yours fair and square. Apologies for sounding cynical. I had an in-law pass a year ago. With a will and friendly family and a great lawyer, we're still dealing with the paperwork.