Appraising an Estate

People are allowed to make any offer they want. If I was asked to estimate or make an offer, I could offer her 5 dollars. It is the customers responsibility ability to be informed and to inform themselves. One ought not to be disturbed by the dealers offer maybe $800 is all the money he had. The owner of said collection should be questioning where the dealer came from, was it friend or did she find the contact herself? So there is obviously a lot of speculation in these statements the message I want to send to people is, buyer beware, be informed, research; and research your research, it is never wise to sell something because you need to, it is best to sell something because you want to. My father taught me many simple lessons in life, for example, always ask yourself this. Is it a need?,or do I just want it. Early is great , on time is good, late is bad.The best time to look for a job is when you all ready have one. and if you can't pay cash.......you can't afford it.

 

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And don't forget to schedule your death at a time that's convenient for your heirs.

"Be informed and inform themselves"? Sure. In the midst of distributing an estate, they can go and study up on coin collection. They can find their way to sites with pictures of coins, check the ranges in which those coins bore silver, calculate the silver value -- easy, right? And then they're all set.

Well, except they still need to "inform themselves" enough to know the difference between a 1928 and a 1928-S Peace dollar. So, you know, they know whether they're looking at a $30 or a $300 coin.

Oops, but they're not done yet. Because until they can tell the difference between F and AU/BU, they don't know whether that 28-S is a $30 or a $150 coin. And if it's "BU", they'd better learn the difference between MS64 and MS65, so they know whether it's a $1000 or a $20000 coin...

As others have pointed out, not even dealers can quickly and accurately judge the value of a large collection; they have to make simplifying assumptions, and as businessmen they need to be conservative in their offers. But bidding 40% of melt value on a collection with obvious numismatic value isn't prudent, it's predatory -- IMHO, at least.

 

Very nice opportunity! Good on you for being an honest voice, Ikandiggit! It make you wonder how many people are taken in by crooked dealers every day. Yes, I feel that people should educate themselves as much as possible about all things. Unfortunately, in this type of situation, a person should be able to rely on professional people to be professional. You wouldn't expect dishonesty out of an antiques dealer or an art dealer but it seems it is commonplace for coin dealers. The ultimate fact of this situation is that no one should see one's disadvantage as an opportunity for profit. I look forward to seeing some of these pieces!!!

 

It happens all the time in art and antiques also - plus many other types of dealers. It is not just limited to coin dealers. The problem is you never read about the good dealers - those that make fair offers.