The other week, I saw one of the large auction houses announcing a sale of 17th-century furniture. The subject is one that I love since there is truly a wonderful sense of history when you park your backside in a 400-year-old chair. Also, 17th-century furniture remains one of the greatly undervalued areas in collecting. This angular rectilinear furniture popular in the 1600s reached its peak of collector interest in the 1920s. Since then, prices, at least for non-museum quality items, have remained pretty reasonable. An auctioneer friend of mine said that he could always get $300 for either a period or revival English 17th-century joint stool because they always brought the same amount. I paid $95 for mine, so I guess this is not always true, but the point is the same. Early furniture has never quite come of age. When I reviewed the catalog from the auction house, the prices really had not budged that much. So I would say it still remains a furniture period that is dated and waiting its turn for discovery! Then I was watching a series of YouTube videos about stamp collecting. Now mind you, I started stamp collecting when I was around 8 years old. I often return to stamp collecting as the gateway drug for collecting. Many of us start in that world, and most of us leave it in time. I recall my grandfathers prized stamp collection. After he died, I took it to a dealer and got a whopping $500 for what I was sure was a million-dollar collection. I am sure it was a fair price, and it brought home the question in my mind, are stamps worth buying any longer? While I am not certain that stamps are an antique of the future, I was impressed by the videos that I watched. Clearly there were folks out there who had color in their hair and were actively building their collection. Now as a grey-haired dude, I do feel qualified to speak to the generationality of the hobby. And with that in mind, I was impressed by what I saw. Stamp collecting was the hobby of kings (quite literally), and I think it remains a great subject area to collect, especially since so many countries no longer exist. If I ever had a grandchild, it might be where I would start them collecting. There has always been a cycle to collecting. Some things fall out of favor only to come roaring back thanks to a movie or some other part of pop culture. Witness what happened with sporting memorabilia. Then there are other areas like stamps or early oak that were once hugely popular but now have faded. I would like to believe they will come back, but when? In my lifetime? I hope, as it would be great to see collecting in general return to what it was back in the heady days of the 1980s. But alas, I do not have my crystal ball to know for sure! Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth of antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.