a morbid, but important, subject

This is really a good idea since I constantly hear people say that, "I inherited a coin collection after my father died and I don't know what to do with it". My situation is a little more simple. I am simply worth more dead than alive to my family. If I died, the value of my coins would be insignificant compared to all my life insurance. All my note would say is, "DON'T EVER SELL THIS COLLECTION UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES P.S. I WILL HAUNT YOU IF YOU DO"

 

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While we are talking about such things I want to take a break and say - don't just take care of your coins, but make sure you have a will and pre-plan your funeral.

I do alot of work with funeral homes and time after time I see families come in that just aren't ready for what just happened, and no plans were put down before hand...they don't know who to call, they don't know how to pay for it, and they don't know what type of service the person would have wanted.

Since I'm 21 I don't have all of this stuff to worry about right now - my coins would most likely just stay in the family since dad collects, and the guys at the funeral home know pretty much what I like, and what I would want.

When I get married this will have to change, and I'll get to (never look at this type of stuff as a HAVE TO, but rather a get to) put all of my details and wishes down on paper.

Speedy

 

Thanks for posting your letter to your family. I will find myself on the receiving end of a great amount of coins, paper money and bullion. I was told that I should locate a qualified dealer who is a member of a certain society (which I cannot remember) and allow them to liquidate the collections. I disagreed, but I cannot argue with my Father. He said a reasonable commission would be half. **Gasp** I would like to be able to liquidate on my own, so I am learning my way through. Thank you for sharing.

 

Borgovan, thank you!

 

You're right that is no excuse. What if your wife pre-deceases you or if you are both killed in an accident? You've just died intestate and the State will now decide who gets your estate and how it will be divided. Not exactly who I would want deciding who gets what.

I take it you never go anywhere in a car? One of the riskiest things a person does on a regular basis.

Since you are now an adult, once again the state will decide who will get your coins, you can't just assume that your father will get them. The state may order them sold and the money divided equally among you relatives. And although the funeral home workers may know what you would want, it would still be your next of kin who will decide the arrangements based on their own prejudices if you have not made your wishes known.

 

I have an extensive Excel spreadsheet cataloging my collection, which should make it easier for my family to know what I have. I have also given the name of a dealer I trust to my mother and brother - and told them to contact him in case something happens.

If you are going to do this, make sure its a dealer that you trust completely. Also, make sure the dealer knows and is aware that you gave your family his name. My family doesn't know anything about coins, and for the most part they don't care - so leaving them a letter like the OP's would not help them (although its a great idea if you think they might be interested).

As much as you might not want to think about this subject, it is an important concern, especially when you collection starts getting valuable.

 

I know.

 

Thats a great point!! I hear that alot as well!!:high5:

 

How about removing any references of a coin collection from your will- destroy any documentation as to their value or purchase price - do not add a rider or list for the collection to insurance and roll the coins into your estate at face value.

Just an idea.

 

I was actually kind of contemplating this myself lately...I'm sure I will probably collect coins for the rest of my life and I can't even begin to predict what will become of my pretty sizeable collection (by then) once I'm gone. I won't have any family left by then unless I just happen to have a kid....guess it will end up in an estate sale pile. But hey maybe I'll at least spark someone else's interest in coin collecting.

 

My family knows very little about coins. That is another reason that I like to purchase certified coins as it helps protect my coins from my family in the event of my death. The slabs will protect them from being damages, cleaned, etc. and the slabs will keep them from being undergraded by the purchaser to some extent.

In my estate planning documents I made it pretty easy for the family. I have the names of a few dealers who know me well and who I trust without question to listed with instructions fof the family to call one or more of them up and hand over just about the entire collection for liquidation. I specifically provide approval for the dealers to be paid reasonable compensation for their services in selling the coins. I also have a couple of specific coins that people have told me they wanted from my collection when I'm ready to sell. I have left instructions for those coins to be first offered to those persons by the dealer(s) who are chosen to liquidate my coins. Finally, I listed the file name and location on my computer of all of the file that has all of my cost basis information on the coins so that the family will have a rough idea of what each coin was worth when I got them.

I tried to make it as easy on the family as possible to get rid of my coins and tried to protect them from getting ripped off in the process. Leaving it all up to one or more trusted dealers seemed like the best way to do so as the fees paid to them in compensation will likely be less than the mistakes my family would make without their guidance.

 

Removing any reference to coins in your will may or may not reduce any inheritance taxes due, depending on if a full accounting of the estate is performed. However, if the estate is less than $1,000,000, there will be no federal estate taxes due (actually, for 2010 only, there is no federal estate tax at all). By not listing an item in a will, the person who writes the will loses all control over that item after he/she dies. Consider the situation where an heir may not be fiscally responsible. Specific instructions can ensure that your wishes are kept.

If your collection is much more than a few percent of your net worth and your net worth is sufficient to trigger federal estate taxes, you really should be talking to an estate attorney.

In my case, I have an 1847 large cent that has been in my family since the 1860's (perhaps earlier). If it was not listed in the will with specific directions, the executor could simply dispose of it rather than ensuring it would be kept in the family and handed down to succeeding generations.

 

I would like to know how many people have their collections insured. My wife and I have been discussing this (not just about my coins) and wondered if it's worth the extra price.

 

Cringely: I think justafarmer was saying that a creative way to pass the coins down would be to do so at face value. I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but there was a recent court ruling that seemed to indicate that coins (bullion coins in the case of the ruling) with intrinsic values higher than face value should still be treated at face value.

So, just because I leave behind a 1916-D dime doesn't necessarily mean the inheritor should pay $1,000 in taxes. After all, I've only left them ten cents.