A friend of mine is handling a probate estate for some clients and he needs to have what he describes as "several coin collections appraised." Do I advise him to just go to an area coin dealer for that? What would you advise? Assume none of the beneficiaries collect coins and he needs this figure to figure the value of the estate for inheritance tax purposes. I'd like to ultimately suggest an estate sale, too, but, of course, even then, he'll have to know what he's got, first, otherwise it's an estate give-away. Thanks.
If he lives in Canada, I would recommend contacting a CAND dealer (there are about 40 of them). They have a code of ethics and have to be voted into the organization (Canadian Assoc of Numismatic Dealers). Any transaction that cheats a customer and they are OUT of the Org. In the US, contact a dealer who is a member of the ANA, but absolutely disgard him if he offers to buy any of the coins that he is appraising. It will cost you money to have him appraise them, cost depending on the amount of coins he needs to see. Make sure that he knows that he is appraising for the estate and not for him to buy them.
Call Kaminski Coin Company. He does this all the time for estates. His number is edited. He is respected all across the USA and if he can not help you he can direct you in the right direction.
Are there any Great Rarities in the collections...or are we talking about folders half full of worn Mercury dimes? Your friend should be able to get a ballpark idea armed with little more than a Red Book. If these are substantial collections, you may be able to get an auction house to appraise the collection for free...as a cost of doing business. If the Heirs don't have an interest in retaining the coins, you may even contract with the auction house to liquidate the collections and that would be your cost base for determining tax liabilities. ...just a guess, I've never been in that position.
Joe's a good egg. He's been working on my want list for a while now. Excellent eye for quality :thumb:
What about www.HA.com Heritage. I've always received positve feed back on them. And anything I've ever bought from them has been spot on. I did see you have someone already. Just for future ref. If anyone has any bad experience with them please post. Or why they don't see someone like HA fit for the job.
It's not something that Heritage does. Unless they are looking to buy the collection themselves. There is also the distance issue to consider - Illinois vs Texas.
