Coins can be insured (you can insure just about anything, actually) and finally decided should get insurance for my collection. Now the insurance company wants a complete inventory, including descriptions and estimated values for everything I have. Fair enough, but not something I had at my fingertips. Started working on it, and came to the realization that not only is the collection bigger than I thought, but it might be worth more than I estimated. (My proof sets alone are worth almost half of what I estimated my whole collection to be worth.) This will be "fun" to finish... took me a couple hours just to do proof sets and certified coins. (Banknotes will be easy enough since I already have those cataloged online; it's just a matter of figuring out how to assign value to the notes). I guess you don't really realize what you have... until you have to give a detailed list of it all lol.
You might look into Hugh Wood INC. They don't require a list. If you have to list everything you will also have to be updating that list as the collection changes. Many collectors use Hugh Wood. They do require you to be a member of the ANA.
Hugh Wood does not require that. They will want to see invoices if you have a loss. I believe you can go online and get a free quote. I have found that they only charge a fraction of what other insurance companies charge.
Are you a commercial numismatic or philatelic or arts organization in any capacity...selling, buying, auction, etc.? Are the collectibles an "A" list entry reported on a IRS Trust filing? Are you acting in a legal capacity for an Estate of some sort? If not, I am not a proponent of insurance for average hobbyists. I never saw the point. There are other options that are not a headache.
Just saw this thread - I guess I could have piggybacked instead of making my own earlier today. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/insurance-for-coin-collection-and-bullion-question.413689/ Maybe a mod can merge.
My insurance company isn't asking that of me, thankfully. I'm basing my estimates on Redbook, sales prices online, or what I can reasonably remember paying for them. I've decided I don't really need details on each and every coin in the collection, just ones of significant value. Otherwise I'd never finish this. If it's worth putting in the safe, it's worth listing; most things not in there (other than the proof sets, for practicality, they just won't fit lol) aren't worth much over face value anyway and would already be covered as "personal property" under my renter's policy. It's not really an unreasonable request that if you insure something, the insurer wants to know what they're insuring, and have reasonable proof that you do in fact have it, and what it's worth. It's just that over the years the collection has grown to the point that doing so has become a near monumental task. Using Excel to make the text inventory, then will take some pictures as supporting documents. They should be satisfied with that. Unless the total collection, or individual pieces, are VERY valuable, they don't expect an independent appraisal, as the cost of that would be more than the items are worth. It's hard to find anyone willing to do that for free, or heck at all unless you're offering to sell. As long as I have a reasonable basis for assigning the value, they're willing to accept it.
1. No. I'm collecting them for my own personal enjoyment, and I don't intend on ever selling them if I can help it. 2. No. Don't even know what that is. 3. No. They're just my own personal property. I just don't want to be out the value of everything I put money in for years if someone breaks in and steals them, or the apartment burns down, or something. The insurance comes out to less than $10 a month, so I feel it's worth it. Other than cases where you're just legally required to have it for some reason, the entire point of insurance is so you have some protection if something unforeseen happens, so you're not left with nothing if it does. It's peace of mind, and that's worth something. Honestly putting together this inventory, while a lot of work, is actually a certain kind of fun anyway, realizing all that I have. I never thought I had that much but doing all of this has made me realized I have more than I thought, which makes me think it's worth protecting even more. (The slightly cynical side of me can't help but thinking that's part of why the insurance company wants me to do this lol, well if so guess it's working.)
Will look into that for sake of comparison. Not a member of the ANA (not against it per se, but never really saw the point as a private collector that almost never sells anything, as information is so easily obtainable for free these days); if joining alone exceeds the cost of insurance with the company I'm already a customer of, that probably ends it right there, but well I'll at least take a look at it. Edit: $35 a year, not bad... but that's the cost of ANA membership and the insurance would be another cost added to that, so... eh, what my insurance company is asking is not that onerous. I don't know, all of this is kind of making question doing this at all; I've had my collection in my apartment for 18 years and nothing's happened to it. Doesn't mean something won't tomorrow, but well... risk is a part of life to some degree, isn't it? But well... the inventory has some value in the exercise anyway, so I may as well continue that part of it. I've been wanting to do that anyway. I'll still go through with it if it's not too much time and money to invest in this but I have my limit of what I think is reasonable. Hasn't exceeded it, yet.
It appears you are comfortable with your reasons and find personal value for obtaining insurance, and have evaluated the worth as reasonable. That is all that matters.
I don't remember any discussion here of recent changes at Hugh Wood. What's happened? When I was actively buying and selling on eBay, I considered a Hugh Wood policy to cover shipping. I'm not doing that any more, and realistically everything that would constitute a significant loss now is safely stored.
I agree with Doug. I have my entire collection of ancients insured by Hugh Wood. You get a substantial discount if your a member of ANA, just let them know your a member when you apply for the insurance: HW Wood International Tel: 1-888-277-6494 Web: https://hughwood.com/industries/fin...ction-insurance/coins-numicatics-paper-money/ I'm currently paying about $35 a year for each $10,000 of coverage (i.e. $90 a year for $25,000. The great thing is I didn't have to provide ANY documentation or proof of purchase (no receipts, no photos, nothing).
Again, I promise I don't hold any CoinManage stock, but I just really dig the software. Anyway, if you use it to catalogue your stuff, it's very easy to create reports that you can use for this purpose. Here's a screenshot of a report of mine (I picked a random page in the middle, sorted by value):
I was wondering about that. I received an email from them. Something about them joining with a different firm that insured more types of stuff. Just received my new policy. I'll study it for any changes that were put in place.
