Wow!!!

Uwe wrote:

Donating it? It looks like he's sunk a lot of money into that collection, never mind the time and effort that would have been needed to amass it, so why do you feel that he should donate it? And to who?

The historical society of Syracuse would be a logical recipient -- a collection like that, representing an important industry and employer there, would be something I'd bet would be greatly appreciated.  They might even be able to pay him something for it -- but getting a tax deduction for the donation, plus having it known as "The [Donor Name] Collection," might be meaningful to the collector.
 

True enough -- if he's willing to sell the pieces individually then he's probably more interested in coverting it to cash than in keeping it intact. You do wonder, though, what happens with the less valuable pieces that go unsold, and which maybe cost him more time and money to assemble than they're worth.  It may be painful to have those "unsellable" remainders, and have to basically give them away.

Amazing collection / collector...