Appraisals

longtimecollector

I've been contacted by the President of the Trust Department of a local bank who knows I am an avid collector / wanna-be dealer.......... He stated that there are numerous occasions that his department requires an appraisal of numismatic items. He has asked me to put together a schedule of charges for appraisal services. I realize that 99% of the material likely to be presented to me will be common accumulations, but on occasion there may be an "old time" collection requiring variety research or research of auction histories / hammer prices...... Does anyone have any input on what a competitive rate would be ??? Would you charge by the piece, the hour, or a percentage of the final value???? Input please !

nwcs

I'm not sure but I think a good place to call would be a jewelry store for their rates on appraising diamonds. I'm sure the charge rate structure could be applied to coins.

Veep

In my area, I'm aware of a couple of approaches:

1) Flat $50 per hour
2) $100 for the first hour/$50 per hour thereafter.

wvinchic

Jewelry Stores around here charge $50 for an insurance appraisal. A real appraisal from one of the big gem companys cost up to $100 the last time I checked (I collect gems too). They include pictures. If I were you, i'd break it down in to types of coins... No one wants to pay a $50 fee to see that their coin is only worth $10... KWIM?

Stacy

orie

I did thoroughbred appraisals for a couple of banks here in Lexington, KY. By the hour is best, no muss, no fuss.

nankraut

I've done some appraisals (for private parties with no knowledge of numismatics) over the years. First, I look at how many coins need to be examined. (If I see a couple $50 bags of pennies, I know I'm in for a long, tedious process). I've always charged by the hour ($25 or so, since I'm retired and work cheap) with no complaints. I always make up a detailed, written inventory for them, and spend time explaining the reasoning behind my results. Once, someone paid for my round-trip air fare to/from their home in oakland, and I spent two days alone in their home going thru several bags of silver dollars. (no 93-S). They paid me with a half dozen Brittish gold soverigns. These people appeared VERY affluent, and I have no idea where they got the silver dollar bags. I didn't ask either.

Smittys

20.00 an hour with a refund of appriasal if purchased.

nwcs

Another idea is a tiered approach. Flat rate per coin (small), then increment upwards with each level of service they want like inventory and photographs, etc.

vega1

Lets review.... a local bank called and wants to know if you want to go look through any coin collections when people bring them in... and get paid for it?! That rocks!!

I say do it for free!!

kranky

I'm pretty sure in Heritage's book about coins and estates they explain the various methods for getting appraisals done and the corresponding fees. Seems to me it was usually a flat hourly rate in most cases. They used to send that book free on request, might be worth asking.

One of the things I remember reading was that sometimes appraisers are asked to do a "date of death" appraisal which required access to historical price records.

I think that an hourly rate with an up-front estimate would be the safest all around. A %age of value wouldn't be good from your perspective, figuring most of the time it will be junk.

Prethen

The toughest aspect about offering to do an appraisal is that you need to distance yourself from the collection and not pretend like you want to be the buyer. It's an appraisal and I assume that means for something like insurance-value type...what it would cost to replace. If they want it appraised for what it would sell, that's a bit tougher. Sell to you? It's a conflict of interest to be the "appraiser" and "wannabe-buyer" on a collection. I guess it really depends on your relationship with all parties involved. I no longer advertise that I do appraisals and offers, now I do valuations and offers...it's a bit more realistic.

If I were asked to do an appraisal, I would charge $100/hour with a 2-hour minimum. It's not easy work and you need to be thorough. Plus, at that rate it sort of helps distance you from the buying angle.



<< <i>Lets review.... a local bank called and wants to know if you want to go look through any coin collections when people bring them in... and get paid for it?! That rocks!!

I say do it for free!! >>

eyoung429

IMHO......after doing contracting for over 10years in the computer industry. You will need to break down your structure.

per hour - collections of different quantities
flat rate - sets
per hour + percent - foriegn coins and us coins mix
per hour + percent - type sets and patterns
per hour + flat rate per coin on vam's


Maybe this will help??

sumdunce

Jewelry Stores around here charge $50 for an insurance appraisal. A real appraisal from one of the big gem companys cost up to $100 the last time I checked (I collect gems too). They include pictures. If I were you, i'd break it down in to types of coins... No one wants to pay a $50 fee to see that their coin is only worth $10... KWIM?

Stacy


What type of gems do you collect and are you currently buying? I have some emeralds (starting less than one carat and going to 4 carat size) that I have been thinking of putting on ebay. If you are interested PM me and we can discuss the details.

wam98

LTC, I can't direct you on how to charge, that's a tuff one. If you charge by the hour, they could say you took to long. If you appraised on a percentage of value, they may think you appraised it high, just to make more. If you charge by the piece, what if they bring you thousands of wheaties. That wouldn't be so good.

Personally, I'd probably go with the percentage thing.

Whatever you choose, good luck.

MICHAELDIXON

Should have been a PM.

nwcs

One other thing, get legal insurance.

kranky

Found the Heritage book (it was published in 2000, by the way) I mentioned earlier, here's what it says (condensed) on the subject on what someone should pay for an appraisal.

Expect to pay $100/hour on average. Small town dealers charge $50-75/hour. Large city dealers might charge $125-150/hour. For a rare or unusual collection, or a very complex situation (this is very uncommon, though) expect to pay $250-500/hour. Ask for an approximate charge and the appraiser should be able to tell you (for example) 2-3 hours, no more than 3. A "one-price" liquidation appraisal should cost much less than a line-by-line one.

Expect to pay more if the appraiser has to come to your bank but that's the safest method. A true pro will make an inventory if one does not exist and make grading evaluation notes. Then the appraiser will take the notes back to his office to determine the values and assemble the appraisal. It's cheaper to take the coins to a dealer and wait with the coins until the notes are being made.