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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,713 |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Sometimes, the attorney of record gets a % of the value of an estate, just for being on the will. Many attorneys setting up wills that way treat them as their retirement income.
If this is the case, you obviously want the appraiser/dealer to provide a lowball buy price. Since he will have all the basic data set up, you should be able to get a second retail/replacement number for a minimal charge.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
just carl: fair call, if you don't know the dealer. I guess my approach was not generalised enough. The dealer I would have gone to has been a good acquaintance of mine for over 30 years. The Red Book would be the best way to go, but obviously not for ancients, World coins, medieval, milled, hammered etc.. |
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Valued Member
 United States
320 Posts |
I called my coin shop, the one I do business with, and his answer was simple-- free. I pressed him a bit, because I've never seen the collection in question and don't know its scope and wouldn't expect him to donate his time in any event... and finally he quoted $50 per hour "if there's suitcases full of coins" or if it's going to be an exhaustive, documented thing. But he made it clear that if it's reasonable amount it's free even though I made it very, very clear that this is not going to be for sale period. I have bought from this shop before though and that seems in keeping with the overall feel of the place... so him saying free is surprising, but not.
Anyway, from what I gather here $50/hour seems reasonable, and free is...well, free...plus I know this business and feel OK with it so I think this is the route I plan to take.
I may or may not take the above advice to go through and pull the commoner coins that I know aren't worth much, to ensure we stay in the free range...I'd like to keep things transparent and if I take out the common coins it may look like I'm cherrypicking out the good stuff sothe appraisal is artificially low... so I'm not sure on that piece but either way I'll take a family member or two with me (whoever might like to go) and we'll go from there.
thanks all for the input.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:just carl: fair call, if you don't know the dealer. I guess my approach was not generalised enough. The dealer I would have gone to has been a good acquaintance of mine for over 30 years. The Red Book would be the best way to go, but obviously not for ancients, World coins, medieval, milled, hammered etc.. True on all accounts. Usually if you know a dealer really well, that does make the difference. Just walking in off the streets is not the smartest way to go if you don't know who your dealing with. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Free appraisals are a mixed bag. They can be dealers doing it to promote business, or to lowball when buying. Just like free car inspections that manage to find hundreds of dollars worth of problems that sound like you'd be taking your life in your hands driving six blocks home.
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Valued Member
United States
499 Posts |
If you truely trust this dealer bring him EVERY coin. This will avoid the other family members from suspecting you of doing anything underhanded. Transparency is th key in a situation like this. Explain the entire situation to the dealer and ask him to put a fair price on the lot considering the good, the bad, and the ugly. Whatever member ends up with the coin collection is taking it to honor your Grandfather by keeping the collection intact. If I were expected to pay full retail I would never do it because although you are honoring grandpa there are probably a good percentage of coins in the collection that you wouldn't buy if collecting for yourself.
That being said, since the recipient is getting the collection at less than market I would put a stipulation on the deal that if they ever decide they don't want the collection anymore they have to offer it to all other members for the same price set in the deal befor selling to anyone else. My Grandfather's stamp collection went to my brother and when he needed money he sold it for cheap change. I would have gladly bought it off him had I only known.
Just my thoughts
Richard
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3184 Posts |
why not see if there is a member on the boards here who lives near you who could do a appraisal for a cheaper price? Help another collector.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
Free appraisals are a mixed bag. They can be dealers doing it to promote business, or to lowball when buying. Just like free car inspections that manage to find hundreds of dollars worth of problems that sound like you'd be taking your life in your hands driving six blocks home.
That made me laugh. Someone I know took their car in due to it was leaking something. They gave him an estimate of several thousand dollars to fix it all. A neighbor that knows cars lifted the hood, tightened a heater hose and all is now OK. Quote:
The idea is to keep it in the family and to keep it intact, not to sell it or split it up amongst the heirs... I'm a little confused with this. Someone in the family has to hold on to that collection, right? And intact, right? Now if it's you and you decide to be a coin collector you would be adding value to that collection continuously, right? So now regardless of what you come up with for a total value now, how does this effect everyone else tomorrow? Suppose one of the others needs money and wants you to sell some or all so they can get their share and you've increased the value by adding. Now what? I suggest you really sit down with all those others in the family and discuss just who is to be the guardian of this collection and who is to make any future decisions about the future of this collection. Hate to say this but might just be a good idea to put it all in writting, just in case. One more suggestion is as already noted. You may want to consider attempting to find a memmber of this forum to give you that estimate. Some or many of the coins may be foreign and there are members here that are fairly well into those. However, kind of something most wouldn't do to trusting a stranger. |
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Valued Member
United States
320 Posts |
Well, thanks all for the input, but it looks like it is out of my hands at this point. Which is fine by me... my aunt (not the one getting the collection) found some other coin shop to take it to. I know nothing of this place, but that's OK, it takes me out of it.
And then like I say the plan is for the recipient to "buy" the collection with their money out of the estate, with the proceeds split between the others. So with the recipient "buying" it from the estate and the others "selling" it to them, there is no coming back later for more... if you sold your share that's it. Everyone agrees on that. And everyone agrees that it needs to stay in the family, so if it ever changes hands again it will be to another family member. Not sure of the pricing at that point, but one issue at a time.
Luckily, I am 99.999% sure there won't be any bad blood over this, it should be an easy transaction. The appraisal was just needed to ensure everyone got a fair shake and because while several family members collect coins, none of us (till myself recently) really collect with an eye toward monetary value. It's more about the enjoyment... so value-wise everyone's a bit stumped.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
Suppose one of the others needs money and wants you to sell some or all so they can get their share and you've increased the value by adding. Now what?
You're missing the suggested solution. Once a disinterested third party assigns a value, that is added to the estate total, and everyone gets their share, with the collection going intact to one person. For example, let's say there are three kids, $150,000 cash and $30,000 in coins. They don't get $50,000 each and debate a custodian for the coins. Two kids get $60,000 each, one gets the coins and $30,000 cash. If more than one kid wants the coins, they can bid against each other. Let's say one is willing to pay $45,000 for the coins. The estate is now worth $195,000, two get $65,000 each, one gets the coins plus $20,000. We did something similar. The son who lived there all his life got the house at appraised value, the other two got equivalent cash, then the rest was divided three ways. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
And then like I say the plan is for the recipient to "buy" the collection with their money out of the estate, with the proceeds split between the others. So with the recipient "buying" it from the estate and the others "selling" it to them, there is no coming back later for more... if you sold your share that's it. Everyone agrees on that. And everyone agrees that it needs to stay in the family, so if it ever changes hands again it will be to another family member. Not sure of the pricing at that point, but one issue at a time.
Great idea and it appears all ends well. Are you planning on buying it all? |
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Valued Member
United States
320 Posts |
Bigfredd got it exactly right. That's the plan...and as long as the appraisal isn't so high so as to exceed that value of the inheritance, it ought to go smooth. And carl, I wish I had enough cash to be the one to get this, but I am not a direct heir and have not got that kind of disposable income. I've been on a coin buying binge lately and have no more "fun" money for such things. And then if we didn't have a 6 month old, I'd think about possibly trying to convince the wife to spend "our" money, but with that in mind I know what the answer would be  ... |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
And carl, I wish I had enough cash to be the one to get this, but I am not a direct heir and have not got that kind of disposable income. I've been on a coin buying binge lately and have no more "fun" money for such things. And then if we didn't have a 6 month old, I'd think about possibly trying to convince the wife to spend "our" money, but with that in mind I know what the answer would be ...
Then the thing to do is not ask how much it was all worth. Then lie to yourself and say it was probably all just stuff you already had or didn't want anyway.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Sorry about your grandfather. Been through it from the outside. It was my father-in-law. Funny how wills bring out the worst in what you thought was a loving family. Good luck.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3540 Posts |
Sorry about your Grandfather as well.
Make an inventory of ALL of the coins. An excel spreadsheet would work well in this case.
Take ALL of the coins to the dealer and let them assign a real, cash value. Everything is listed, everything is appraised by a professional, and then pay the professional for their time. Provide the info to the estate...and call it a day. Keeps you out of the middle and everybody on the same page.
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,713 |
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Posted 02/25/2011 12:15 am
