Should I use my real name when selling my collection at auction?

Bing, you hit the bullseye! When Dr. Adams fabulous gold coin coll. was sold by CNG, his name was made public....what's the harm? On the otherhand, if you bought millions of dollars of Dr. Adams coll. like one Saudi Prince/ then I can see to keep it secret....well maybe not, since in Saudi Arabia you loose your hand for theft/head for violent robbery

 

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In your case use the "Parthicus" pseudonym, clearly it's what you feel more comfortable with and folks in the trade would recognise it.

Personally, I would use something along the lines of "Atherton Collection" because some of my rarer coins are already attributed as such in the upcoming RIC II Addenda and people here and on other coin forums know my name already.

 

I'm not famous so only my inner circle even knows I collect Ancients. If ever I decided to sell (I won't unless I have a financial crisis), I believe I would use "from the JW Harper collection". I really can't think of any reason I need to hide my identify as the seller. Maybe as the buyer, but not the seller.

 

You probably don't. But then I doubt you are taking the cash from the sale and leaving it lying around in your next home. Any I assume you are selling the whole house and not leaving some of it around for others to come and tow away.

 

Not sure I follow your train of thought here.

 

I happen to have a "John Smith"-like name that's common as dirt, but I still don't use it. Putting aside the risk of criminals associating your name with rare coins and targeting your house (if they could track you down) because "he might have some left", ask yourself:
1. When someone Googles my name do I want valuable rare coin sales to come up?
2. Do I want lots of random associates commenting at parties "hey, I saw online that you sold a bunch of coins, you must have made a ton of money!"

If my collection were sold after my death, I'd probably ask that my name be used. During lifetime, it's "the Carausius Collection" or "the Collection of a Raving Coin Addict".

 

The only time I consider it appropriate to place a name on a sale is when that sale represents a person who contributed to the study of the coins being sold or passed away leaving a life's work not just a few hundred coins. We have coins from Alexandria flagged from the massive Dattari collection and books organizing them. Fred Shore is quite alive but wrote a book based on his collection since dispersed. I consider coins used to illustrate that book notable but coins I buy from him at a coin show now that he bought recently are no more that items in the trade.

I prefer coins of mine used in books be noted as 'Private Collection'. When I am gone, no one will care who owned them unless I do something soon like run for President or write the next Star Wars level blockbuster.

 

Now this train of thought I can understand, but I don't understand the security issue. When I do sell my home, the records will be public with both my name and my wife's and the sale price. This amount will be much more than my entire collection is worth (hopefully - if it ever sells).

 

I think the more info about you that an identity thief has, the easier it is for them to steal your identity. I fear identity theft the most - my one bit of paranoia.

 

You're probably right that no one will care after I'm gone that I owned the coins, I suppose it's a bit of hubris to think otherwise. However, because some rare pieces have already been provenanced to me it may be easier for the next owner to attribute them correctly if he or she knows where they came from.

 

I'm going to sell my coins as being a part of the TIFsmit Collection

 

If you sell your house, well, you're no longer living there, so locating you for a robbery gets a little more difficult for a potential robber. Plus you've probably put the money into your next house, so there might be little left to steal.

If you sell your coin collection using your own name, you can be located pretty easily (with a little effort) by just about anyone with a computer. Regardless of what you've done with the proceeds of the sale, you're a target for criminals in any number of ways. Even a home invasion or kidnapping for ransom isn't completely out of the question (albeit a bit unlikely).

Not worth the risk under any plausible scenario.

 

It's really quite simple: rare coins are portable and fenceable and possibly at home. Cash from a house sale is likely in the bank, not at home.

 

Well, I would be more than foolish to stuff my mattress with the proceeds from the sale of my house or my coins. Who is to say what I might do with the proceeds from any sale including coins? Naw, I'm still not buying the argument that I would be any more vulnerable by using my name in a national or international sale. The chances of anyone finding me by my name is astronomical. How many J. Harpers might a thief have to go through to find me. And then, when found, find where I have my wealth and how to get to it.

When I retired, I was employed by a company to conduct industrial espionage. One of the easiest means of finding information was through "dumpster diving". Once in the garbage, information is pretty much anybody's to use. Even though I was able to locate financial records, there was no way to access the wealth.

Cash from a coin sale is most likely in a bank as well.

 

You're not a criminal, so it's no surprise that you wouldn't use devious means to access someone else's wealth.

While it may be farfetched, do you really think it's impossible that a criminal wouldn't try violence or kidnapping if they knew someone who had just sold their collection for, say, $1M+?

BTW, cool post-retirement activity there...

 

You miss my point, Bing. Bad guys see your name associated with rare coin sale. They target your house because you may have MORE rare coins lying around.

 

I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

What I did prior to retirement was somewhat different, but not entirely. I was more likely to lose my life rather than a career if caught. However, what I did "post-retirement" was very interesting and eye-opening. If companies only knew how easy it is to collect company sensitive information and pass to a competitor.

 

Then there's the nuisance of having people contact you every day trying to convince you to contribute to, or support, their causes.

If your name is common, maybe it's less of an issue. In my case, as far as I can determine, I'm the only person in the entire U.S. with my combination of first and last name. Way too easy a target...

 

One possibility is always to use a pseudonym but leave hints in the auction if, for instance, you published the coins in a paper or they are published in an upcoming book. Many collectors have done this. Collectors in the area you collect will likely be able to figure out who you are but there is a level of obfuscation that will likely shield you from non-collectors if that's what you're worried about.

 

I use a CC for every transaction I make, even for a $2.00 Coke. Never carry cash. Due to my extensive travels nationally and overseas on a regular basis, I am ALWAYS a "Victim of Identity Theft." EVERY year for the past 30+ years, my CC companies call / contact me to change my CC and number, due to my account being hi-jacked. Thank goodness, I have never lost any money, and the CC companies are pretty good about accommodating me (overnight card replacement, cover any issues, etc.) It can be frustrating if I am in the Hinterlands of a "3rd World Country" that do not use CC's.