Liquidation of Coin Collection by Heirs of the Deceased

Several years ago I started collecting ABNCo foreign currency. As soon as I got home I'd remove the notes from the plastic sleeve with the Krauss catalog classification number, then scan 'em, put the notes in a large envelopes. later on I started collecting more expensive foreign notes, not necessarily ABNCo but higher prices notes and old collectible stock certificates, including some beautiful ABNCo specimen examples bought online at different ABNCo auctions. Reading this thread made me realize I've got a lot of work to do cataloging my stuff.

Thanks for the heads up. I wouldn't be fair to leave the unorganized collection for my son to deal with.

 

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Lucy, Go to a coin show, club, or a coin store and check things out. Talk to the collectors or dealers at all, and find out, some information on the coins. Do not take all of the coins at the same time. Take a few and go around and see what people will give you for them. Get a red, or black book and look up the coins, before you go. If the coins are in a slab, then it makes it easier to find the cost. The "Red Book" will have the retail prices, take off 40% to 50% off that price and that's what a dealer will tell you what they are worth. Good Luck

 

My boys make me proud they said that when my collection finally goes to them they're going to to keep it to pass on to their children! They get it all except for the 20th and 25th anniversary eagles that are going to my wife!

 

Just wanted to add a note.. I joined CoinTalk for the reasons posted above. I have learned very much, enhanced my own interests in numismatics, have purchased several books referenced on this site, researched all kinds of items I've learned of here, asked numerous stupid questions, and continue to enjoy the site! I learn daily, and eventually all this learning will allow me to have "my own" collection, comprised of items I am personally interested in; it will also allow me to part smartly with those items I am not interested in. I would REALLY be lost without CoinTalk! Most every one here has been helpful.

I posted my own experience here thinking that it might help if the OP knew what it might be like for the person left with little to no instruction. It was not meant to be a "woe is me" type post. I am enjoying my journey here.

 

I have wasted my money on drinking, gambling, boating, bird dogs and other forms of recreation. I suspect I will continue to do so. My coin collection used to be nice and orderly but now it is a mess. I suspect it will contnue to be until the day I die. Ten years ago my focus turned to variety collecting which consisted of me, according to my wife, destroying all order in my collection. I have tried explaining varieties to my wife but she is just not interested. So now what I have from her perspective is boxes and boxes of coins in 2x2 flips cataloged in a form of secret code which would require an inigma machine to break. To be honest - for the average coin collector or dealer she is more than likely right.

And to be honest - I have learned over the years that the wife warms up to that new bird dog quicker if she doesn't know how much it cost.

 

I will assist you in the exact steps you need to take. If it is your intention to pass this collection on to someone else so that they may liquidate the collection, you must be prepared to do a bit of work.

You must keep a journal and record the purchase price of each one of your coins. If you keep the same coins in your collection for several years, go through and adjust the approximate value of each coin every 6 months. If you want to do it the right way, you will do this.

You cannot leave it up to a "trusted" dealer, even if you know them well. You cannot trust anyone. You cannot know how people's motivations will change over time. A lifelong friend might decide to rip off your children in a heart beat. You must record the value of your own collection.

You must make a notation of any varieties. If you collect bullion coins, you must mark down which coins are silver etc. You must physically write down that silver coins should be sold for very close to the spot price under any circumstance.

You must physically write down "do not clean or alter coins in any way." Do not say it in person, you need to write it down. People will forget, or not understand you correctly.

Compile a list of dealers that you would advise trying to sell your coins to. Or if you would go the auction route, advise them on which auction houses to use. Make it very clear. People will do things you would never think of. Sell them at a garage sale, or who knows what.

Now they are empowered with the approximate value of the coin from yourself, and they have contacts to sell the coin to. They will have a clear understanding of what not to do as well. If you care about passing your collection on to your family, you will have no trouble with this small burden.

 

The sad truth is.... it all depends on who takes possession of the collection after you're gone. Over the last year, I have come across at least a half dozen estates where the coins from collections were rolled up and deposited at the bank for face value by family members with no idea of bullion value. Banknotes (even notes from the '30's) were also deposited. The only items from the collection that were kept were "war coins and notes" because "Grandpa brought them back with him and they must be very rare!"

One collection had a number of gold sovereigns that were sold to a travelling "gold and silver buyer". It makes me sick when I think of what may have been there. They received less than $150 each (This was in July this year).

 

maybe if some of my kkids collected coins id give them some of my collection. like my duplicate wheaties or something. some parts id rather keep to the grave because im close to them and have a lot of sentimental value

 

That is unbelievable. And most people can get a college education without having any exposure to real money!

I would say that most people should start with downloading the Greysheet; it may take a while to match up what people have with where they fit on the price sheet. Then go to the Heritage Auction site or other very user-friendly site with prices for all collectibles, and check current auction records.

 

I guess it's no different if you or I inherited Aunt Glady's ceramic elephant collection. Who would know that a Royal Dux would be among her home-made ceramic elephants. How many would even know if it was worth looking up Royal Dux?

 

If you don't even know where all your coins are, how can you expect your heirs to?
I was simply saying, using some coin management software to store your coin inventory and print out a report would be an easy thing to do. If not for all your collection, at least for the most valuable items.

We don't all have 30,000+ coins Chris.

 

There is no one size fits all answer for what to do with a collection in this situations. It all depends on how much effort your heirs are willing to put into the liquidation. Getting top dollar for a collection of some magnitude is aiming too high in most instances, unless, as someone earlier suggested, they sell the stuff themselves. Some heirs may not be interested in doing the necessary research to do this. Any third-party seller will take fees and commissions, so this has to be taken into account. For any substantial collection, a lawyer should always be consulted. The best you can hope for is to designate who gets what, and offer some written advice on which direction to go. But ultimately, it will be the heir who decides how much effort to put into selling the collection.

With that said, I would second an earlier poster's recommendation of the book What to do With Grandaddy's Coins by Jeff Ambio. While the style of the writing was geared toward a younger crowd, it did contain some good basic information. The book is inexpensive. I own a copy and keep it in the same cabinet as my collection. Let them read this before they attempt liquidation.

 

Doesn't anybody carry life insurance policies anymore? Savings? Why should the collection need to be sold? I've got enough life insurance on myself that if anything happened to me, the collection can sit there until somebody comes along that wants it. That may be a grandkid or a great grandkid. I would rather they have the collection then the cash derived from the sale earning 0.25% interest in the bank for them.

My grandfather was not a big collector. But he did save several Morgans, Peace dollars, Kennedy rolls and a couple rolls of silver quarters. After he passed, did anybody in the family feel we needed to run out and cash these in? Small amount. Would have been easy to do.

No. I have them stashed away. More value to me than the cash. And if I needed cash I wouldn't sell them. What's the point? After you spend it, you need more. Now you have no assets to sell and you have to find some other way to get money again anyway. You're in the same boat with no assets.

 

That's the logical route, Vess, but in the middle of dealing with estates, it seems that the trend is to dispose of the deceased's material goods and convert it into cash as soon as possible. Furniture, tools, collections etc. are all sold for pennies on the dollar as fast as possible. At least that's what the family's I've dealt with are doing.

 

To a point, I can understand this. If the family doesn't need their tvs, another couch, another kitchen table and chairs, ok. That makes sense. You may as well sell it. But anything that's valuable that is easy to store and can increase greatly in value with time, I don't understand. Not to mention possible sentimental value.

A valuable collection of anything (granted, that's easily stored. I can see how a family may not be able to store a collection of cars or something that takes up entire rooms) represents family wealth to me. If it's sold cheap so somebody could go on vacation or pay the rent for a couple months, then that wealth is permanently removed from the family. And the person still has the same issue(s) 6 months from now.

It may have taken years to accumulate and family members are willing to blow it in a month. Then it's gone, most likely never to return.

I understand you want people to enjoy life but at what cost? Sell a $30k collection so somebody can have a dream wedding? Just an example but I'm sure it happens. Insanity IMO. I always think, if you sell an ounce of silver for say, $35. What can you buy in return with the $35 that can increase in value, is easily stored and can easily be passed down and saved? The $35 cash itself can't do that. There isn't much worth buying out there to make it worth selling that ounce of silver. So buy the other stuff with new cash. Not the old.

That's just my take on it.

 

You and I think the same way. :yes:

 

If the OP really just wants his family to get top dollar for the collection and is comfortable with it being sold, than they should sell 95% of it right now. Save a few that are special and sell it all now and then they don't have to worry about it. Problem solved.

 

Ikandiggit and Vess, I agree with both of you. However, most Americans are financially illiterate so they don't. That is the thing about hanging around a bunch of coin collectors here, we all agree on the value of holding on to PM, and tend to be conservative fiscally. Sadly most of our nation does not share these traits, but if we only listen to others on this board we would never know that.

Sadly, I also agree with you ikandiggit that most families wish to liquidate assets ASAP nowadays. Its very sad. My mother just passed, and luckily my sister and I and just slowly going through her things, trying to give away to extended family as much as possible. I do not want any money.

My take.

Chris

 

A story:

My wife's great grandfather collected world coins & Franklin Mint issues. Finally now that silver went up, the family decided to sell, and I offered my help (Me and two Krause catologs). Turns out most were almost consistently low/circulated grade & worth melt (I kept the Thalers (worth slightly more) & Crown, as well as the Swiss coins for myself).

But it doesn't end there. Getting top dollar for melt is only possible at a show, and the larger the better. A local dealer will only offer 60-70% (from my experience), and at a show one can get 90% or more.

On my side of the family, one of my grandfathers was a collector (and provided me with my first coins way before I started), and the other was more of an accumulator. Their collections (hopefully) will not be sold (although my grandmother did "borrow" a few silver quarters for the washing machine:so-sad without someone going through them first (and extreme need).

As for myself, my spouse knows my user name here and password. If I should pass away (heaven forbid), she knows to come here and discuss the best way to liquidate, if that is the direction that she wants to go.

 

The reality is that heirs will be unlikely to get top dollar; and as the saying is, when someone is dead or incapacitated, the real parasites take over (lawyers, government, probate entities). If there was any real chance that I was at risk, my strategy would be to simplify my tangible asset holdings. Plus, it never hurts to take your profits from time to time, give to good charities that I believe in, pay relevant taxes, move the assets into smarter areas.


The problem with physical assets is that they are easily stolen or misappropriated, and the government is usually powerless to do anything about that. As Warren Buffett and many other people have decided, it is better to disperse funds into sensible areas while someone has all their wits.


Getting top dollar is not that difficult: With PMs ship to Apmex, Gainesville, etc. following their procedures to the 't'. With proof sets and mint sets there are dealers paying 90% of greysheet. With rare coins where the big boys will not make strong offers, run them at auction with safe reserves. There are several auctions houses that will even get the coins certified cheaply for you and offer lots of free advice.