Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Share #1 Posted March 5, 2011 Today was the start of the estate sale at the home of Ulysses Simpson Grant Sharp, Jr., four star admiral: Ulysses Simpson Grant Sharp, Jr. (April 2, 1906 - December 12, 2001) was a United States Navy four star admiral who served as Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT) from 1963 to 1964; and Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Command (CINCPAC) from 1964 to 1968. He was PACOM commander during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Sharp was related to Ulysses S. Grant by marriage. Here's some of the pictures they sent out before the sale - people started lining up 22 hours before the sale to get on the list which then allowed you to get a number for entry this morning. Only four people at a time were allowed into this room with the militaria and a friend who was working the sale said it was quite the circus: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn92 Posted March 5, 2011 Share #2 Posted March 5, 2011 Awesome. That's some serious history there. For those of us who aren't hardcore collectors and have never been to an estate sale, how does it work? Are there set prices or do you make offers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack's Son Posted March 5, 2011 Share #3 Posted March 5, 2011 FS, Thanks for the pictures! This is as close as I was allowed to the auction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dskjl Posted March 5, 2011 Share #4 Posted March 5, 2011 You know I would just go in and empty the tables and fill my car, I would not be able to choose just one or even a couple of things, I would have to take it all. Amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted March 5, 2011 Okay, so I'm not a good one when it comes to standing in lines and getting up at pre-dawn hours to be first inside so I showed up about 5 hours after the sale started and spent a whole lot more money than I'd intended but that's because there was still lots of interesting stuff and the prices were pretty reasonable. I understand those blue admiral uniforms in one of the photos above went maybe $200 or less each with ribbons. I got a cool uniform: his 1963-dated cotton sateen shirt that was on a hanger with a pair of the windproof trousers of that era. Navy officer registers are always nice finds but it wasn't until I got home that I noticed this one was personalized: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #6 Posted March 5, 2011 Awesome. That's some serious history there. For those of us who aren't hardcore collectors and have never been to an estate sale, how does it work? Are there set prices or do you make offers? In California estate sales are fixed price: stuff is spread out throughout the house (and garage in most cases) and on the first day of the sale you pretty much pay the marked price. In some eastern states it's an auction and you may have to hang around all day to bid on one thing. I like our way better: this was just one of three estate sales I went to today (got a WWII N-1 deck jacket at the first one). On the last day of a sale there usually is some discounting, but this one I suspect will be cleaned out before then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted March 5, 2011 This is the certificate naming him Vice Admiral: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #8 Posted March 5, 2011 A couple of ribbon racks: This was on the back of the bottom rack: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #9 Posted March 5, 2011 This is a lighter he would have given out when he was CINCPAC - notice the four stars: The house was full of sterling items given to him by foreign leaders (as well as some incredible Asian ship models, etc.). This one is not sterling but has his initials and those of the person who gave it to him: GWA. I need to figure out who that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #10 Posted March 5, 2011 This is an Aussie military coat with his name in it: A nice large patch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 5, 2011 Share #11 Posted March 5, 2011 I am literally drooling all over my keyboard. Time to brace myself for bidding wars on eBay! Does it make anyone wonder why the estate sellers don't just initially list this stuff on eBay? They KNOW the stuff is worth dough, and they KNOW the stuff will bring good money on eBay...but then they list it at 10 cents on the dollar an estate sale and then do crowd control to make sure that they don't get shoplifted. Kind of makes you wonder??? :think: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammo-man Posted March 5, 2011 Share #12 Posted March 5, 2011 Fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #13 Posted March 5, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #14 Posted March 5, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #15 Posted March 5, 2011 I am literally drooling all over my keyboard. Time to brace myself for bidding wars on eBay! Does it make anyone wonder why the estate sellers don't just initially list this stuff on eBay? They KNOW the stuff is worth dough, and they KNOW the stuff will bring good money on eBay...but then they list it at 10 cents on the dollar an estate sale and then do crowd control to make sure that they don't get shoplifted. Kind of makes you wonder??? :think: 10 cents on the dollar - I wish! Although I do wonder what one of those blues uniforms with ribbons would do. One of our forum members appraised this for the sellers and they then decided how much to charge based on that. I wish I had not run out of cash while I was there (or maybe I'm lucky I did). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 5, 2011 Share #16 Posted March 5, 2011 This is the certificate naming him Vice Admiral: These are VERY impressive. I did not know that officers were appointed to the rank of Vice Admiral (or Lieutenant General) instead of being promoted. I had no clue about this until about a year ago when I was visiting a local 3-star and saw these appointments on his wall and he explained to me the selection process, Senate confirmation, and the like. I've collected flag/general officer stuff for many years (close to 20) and never knew that before then... Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #17 Posted March 5, 2011 Fantastic Know anything about that Aussie camo coat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt-M Posted March 5, 2011 Share #18 Posted March 5, 2011 I bought one of his dress mess jackets, named inside, complete with ribbons dated 1961, a set of his mini dress medals, and his 2 permanent citations for his DSM's in the official holder. I bought strictly for resale, so if any one wants to start putting this group back together, give me a shout. I was 6th in line and they only let 5 in the room at one time. I had to watch the first 5 people pick through everything right in front of me. Amazingly, no one touched the US medals. There was a nice older Asian man who bought quite a few of the foreign awards as well as the admiral's dress visor in the named box.($300). Things weren't cheap, but less than retail. Even at that however, it added up quickly. It spanned his whole career. From his fore and aft cap to his retirement. The son, who is also a Naval officer, must have kept the full size medals, or perhaps he was buried with them, as I found none of his at the sale. I did buy the bar mounted group, but it was not his. Was a real bummer to see it go in all different directions. C'est la vie. Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsakers85 Posted March 5, 2011 Share #19 Posted March 5, 2011 I wonder when we'll see these on eBay... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 5, 2011 Share #20 Posted March 5, 2011 10 cents on the dollar - I wish! Although I do wonder what one of those blues uniforms with ribbons would do. Whew...that makes me feel MUCH better. Nothing worse than seeing stuff sold for pennies. I saw way too many Annapolis-area general/flag officer estates sell for literally pennies ("Sure, that uniform with all the medals...how about ten bucks?") under "legit" estate sellers when I was stationed up there. I now have his name as a search on eBay...we'll see what comes up! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share #21 Posted March 5, 2011 I think I found the GWA who gave this to him in 1962: George Whelan Anderson, Jr., Admiral, United States Navy was Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in charge of the US blockade of Cuba during Soviet missile crisis in 1962. Sharp was his deputy chief of naval operations for policy and planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 5, 2011 Share #22 Posted March 5, 2011 I think I found the GWA who gave this to him in 1962: George Whelan Anderson, Jr., Admiral, United States Navy was Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in charge of the US blockade of Cuba during Soviet missile crisis in 1962. Sharp was his deputy chief of naval operations for policy and planning. WOW - this could well be from his performance as N3/N5 on the OPNAV staff during the Cuban Missile Crisis...talk about HISTORIC! That's amazing!!! :w00t: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt-M Posted March 5, 2011 Share #23 Posted March 5, 2011 Yes, Dave. It was cool that no one tried to haggle, though in 20+ years of collecting, I've seen a handful of collectors/ dealers offer a seller more than what they're asking. The appraisal was done by a well respected dealer and I'm fairly certain that he would have made a fair offer on everything, but I'm guessing by the amount of items, it would be roughly 15-20k. The room was literally an archive of his career. It was an awesome sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMCR79 Posted March 5, 2011 Share #24 Posted March 5, 2011 I wonder who owned the medal bar with the Yangtze and 2nd Nic, I don't see it on his ribbons, so I guess it was not his. The full size medals appear to be missing, I guess he was buried with them. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Javelin4life Posted March 5, 2011 Share #25 Posted March 5, 2011 :jeal0001: :jeal0001: I'm having a difficult time controlling my jealousy level that you got a shot at this estate sale...nice haul though :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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