Options
How many here have instructed their significant other how to dispose of their collection in the even
PerryHall
Posts: 46,800 ✭✭✭✭✭
After reading another thread concerning a B&M dealer buying some very rare and valuable silver coins for their melt value, I wondered if this could have been prevented if the original owner and collector had left instructions as to the value of the coins and the best way of liquidating his collection.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
0
Comments
K
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
<< <i>My kids know. So does the dog. As for the Bit@h - she's not on the list. >>
My wife knows who to contact.
I have, however, given strict instructions to my five adult children what to do in the event of my untimely death, particularly in light of recent heart problems. One of the most important aspects of my preparation for such an event has been to select a trusted and knowledgeable individual to assist them if needed. I have recounted this strange sequence of events on this form long ago, but perhaps it bears repeating so that others can avoid the pitfalls I encountered.
In the early 1990’s I made an arrangement, a tontine of sorts, with a fellow half dime aficionado whereby we mutually agreed to assist the family of the other party with the orderly disposition of their collection in the event of their untimely death. Of course, we were both in our 40’s, confident of our immortality, and convinced that we would both live forever, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Regrettably, just a few years later I received the dreadful and improbable news that my good friend and fellow collector had died suddenly of a brain aneurism. I was stunned and shocked that my friend had died at such an early age, and contacted the family to make my services available to them for his significant half dime collection.
I then faced the prospect of selecting yet another trusted and knowledgeable collector with whom to enter into such an agreement. As I have made it a habit to get to know virtually every serious half dime collector in the country, I had the name of another good friend in mind, and we quickly made the verbal agreement to assist each other’s family should the need occur. Again, my friend was much too young to even think about such an eventuality, but fate was not with him, and he tragically passed away only a couple of years later due to pancreatic cancer.
Left without the prospect of a trusted individual to assist my family, I entered into a third agreement with one of my most trusted and valued friends in the hobby, an individual who had served as a mentor to me during many years of studying the Bust half dimes. Confident that we had things covered for any eventuality, we proceeded to enjoy our hobby until he, too, was taken from us in a very untimely death due to a ‘myocardial viral infection’. Three good and valued friends all taken much too early.
In recounting this story to my daughter, she looked very stunned, pale and thoughtful, which I attributed only to the fact that she had known all three of these individuals. She looked at me very pensively and replied “Of all of the many friends that you have known in the hobby over the years, from all over the country, those three individuals have all been here to visit us at our home!”. I was stunned at that realization, which had not occurred to me. Now, not only will no one enter into such an agreement with me, but no one will even visit me. True story. Sad but true.
I have constructed an elaborate and detailed database which contains all of the necessary information about each and every coin in my reference collection, and each of my five children is aware of its existence and knows how to use it. It serves me greatly as a tool to organize and work with my collection for my research, but also would serve as an invaluable tool for them to use in the event of my death. I shudder to think of what might happen to that asset without such a resource.
I highly recommend that every serious collector should enter into a mutual agreement with another trusted and knowledgeable collector, to aid your family in the event of your untimely death. We don’t like to think of such things, but it is cheap insurance and provides peace of mind. Just hope that you are not cursed, as I seem to be.
Anybody want to enter now??
Recipient of the coveted "You Suck" award, April 2009 for cherrypicking a 1833 CBHD LM-5, and April 2022 for a 1835 LM-12, and again in Aug 2012 for picking off a 1952 FS-902.
> Anybody want to enter now??
No, but thanks anyway. Let's keep you here for now
I only showed the collection to my better half a couple of weeks ago, after 14 years of married life. I'm working now on creating a database of info and notes on which coins would do best going where. I hope time is on my side!
Seemed prudent.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
<< <i>I did. I told her one coin at a time on ebay with pictures. >>
Bingo.
I've been thinging of using TurboLister and making listings with pictures and discriptions saved and ready to upload.
But I haven't.
I have trained my wife on how to grade coins for over 40 years now, and she can grade just about as well as I can grade. I have trained her how to buy AND sell at the right times and at the right places. Matter of fact, I let my wife do the selling because she is more of a "hard-nose" than I am. She is a real "wheeler and dealer", but I must admit she is not quite as good as my brother who takes first place in that category.
My brother is also a collector who knows how to grade, so my collection will be deposed of properly. Conversely, I will also depose of my brother's collection if he goes first.
My collection is well documented via a Microsoft Access database program that I wrote denoting history, cost, value, location, etc. If I go first, there will not be any problem disposing of my collection properly.
<< <i>If your inventory records are current, clear and accessible, there should be no problem. Cheers, RickO >>
Exactly! Even wife unit should be able to understand:
Description:
Purchased on:
Purchased from:
Purchased for (includes shipping):
Supplementary fees (grading, etc):
Sold on:
Sold to:
Sold for (includes shipping):
Briefly, my wife doesn't want them. My children will get them.
I ran copies of all my collections from "My Collection" on Heritage's web site.
Each series has total and individual coin prices for each collection.
I left written instructions and the copies with my will along with instructions
about how to dispose of them at a decent price if they didn't want them.
It's all done and I'm grateful to Heritage for the opportunity to do that.
JT
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
<< <i>Recently read an article where a deceased didn't leave the other the passwords/access to a laptop.
Leo >>
Shouldn't be a big problem. There are lots of IT software that can go right around a password. Plus,depending on the computor, there are jumpers on the mother board that can me moved to clear out any password. Plus the password is really just on Windows and not really on the hard drive itself.(You can't really password protect a hard drive) Just put the harddrive in another computor. Or send it Western Digital, or other data recovery service, and they can recover data of off anyhard drive or even parts of a broken drive.
<< <i>I will be buried with my PCGS boxes as a pillow.
Dont forget the phone and blue sheet.
the date and grade .
Better coins have my buy price in typical dealer code .
3 X 5 index cards show how to decipher .
Any gold bullion is marked with AGW . Index card shows
how to translate value (.2354) times current gold price .
All other stuff such as liberty nickles in VG , or common
indians are about a buck a piece . (to much work)