If you were to die today, who would you have wanted

Bochiman · January 11, 2018 9:01PM

to direct your heirs to in order to properly sell your collection, if selling is what they wanted to do?

This came up years ago but some of the go to dealers are no longer applicable (Mark Feld is no longer his own business and works for Heritage, Russ is no longer with us and was a go-to consignment choice for ebaying).

This is where one would look at the categories of coins, and there is no, to my knowledge, real "1 dealer fits all" type of play.

For certain material, I could see CRO being an option, but, I don't see them being an option for moderns or a ton of MS63-64 common morgans.

For some items, I could see Ian, at Great Collections, being an option.

What about raw stuff that slabbing really doesn't make a big difference on? Heirs getting ripped off by local B&Ms?

Just wondering what people are thinking for an updated type of list of go-to people/dealers. I think some make this list but then, over the years, it doesn't get updated and if something happens, the heirs could still be at a loss, unless they were heavily involved.
Also, if the heirs aren't on this forum (that gets back to the heavily involved bit), then maybe a link to the forum and your login info may be something to have with the collection as well.......

So, thoughts?

Justacommeman · January 11, 2018 9:05PM

In my will I have instructions for John Agre and Legend to be consulted

m

topstuf · January 11, 2018 9:08PM

Littleton and Coin Vault

ms70 · January 11, 2018 9:16PM

I hate to say it as I've been very vocal about their rip-off consignment & buyer fees, but Heritage would probably be the EASIEST route in the end for those who know zero about coins. One stop, get rid of it all at once.

Keep in mind this is my death bed choice.

Kkathyl · January 11, 2018 9:21PM

Jay Rudo would be a pick for me. He has been around forever hard working and knows everyone.

Coin Finder · January 11, 2018 9:26PM

Local dealer I know and trust....

Coin Finder · January 11, 2018 9:27PM

Local dealer I know and trust....

ChrisRx · January 11, 2018 9:34PM

Not heritage as they would take too much meat off the bone.

ms70 · January 11, 2018 9:47PM

@ChrisRx said:
Not heritage as they would take too much meat off the bone.

Agreed. I just think for lack of a dealer that I personally know and trust this is the safest route. Meat of the bone? Absolutely, but easy and upfront.

JBK · January 11, 2018 9:59PM

For some of my stuff, Coinstar.

lkeigwin · January 11, 2018 10:03PM

Small cents? Andy Skrabalak. Bust halves? Sheridan Downey. Everything else, Heritage.
Lance.

Martin · January 11, 2018 10:08PM

I do not know him, but I lurk a lot and do not have high end stuff Airplanenut would serve them well

Martin

BryceM · January 11, 2018 10:18PM

Tough question. Chronic illness = sell it myself via a huge variety of routes. Sudden death = I have a two page sheet of instructions which cover tax implications, trusted dealers, auction houses, customary rates, etc. I think auction via HA would be the right answer for a lot of it but I’d recommend doing it through a dealer with enough volume that they get a better % of hammer than an individual would independently.

The one quality to direct this decision is integrity. A handful of dealers fit this description. PM me if you want my list. Auction houses are mostly too big to care like they should. Some of my stuff would be perfect for a boutique auction like Legend. Much of it is just regular auction fodder. Bullion I would to send to a high volume firm like APMEX with published “buy” prices.

Even with all that, if the value of your collection is crucial to the well being and keeping of your heirs, something is amiss in your planning.

ldhair · January 11, 2018 10:28PM

I'm really lucky. My son grew up in the hobby and understands it well. He can deal with it. Years ago I gave my lady a list of who to go to. Mark Feld was first. The next few are now gone. Times change.

Justacommeman · January 11, 2018 11:01PM

@topstuf said:
Littleton and Coin Vault

An hour later I'm still laughing

m

Unknown · January 11, 2018 11:04PM

This content has been removed.

jdimmick · January 11, 2018 11:31PM

I would either have Harry Laibstain, Dave Kahn or Legend auctions sell mine or a combination there of.

Bochiman · January 12, 2018 12:40AM

@ldhair said:
I'm really lucky. My son grew up in the hobby and understands it well. He can deal with it. Years ago I gave my lady a list of who to go to. Mark Feld was first. The next few are now gone. Times change.

My son is still in high school and, while he understands some of it, he doesn't understand all of it right now...and that's fine with me as I really want him to focus on school, and then he has basketball and playing the guitar as his hobbies as well.
Maybe when he is older, he will have the time to go deeper into this with me, if I am still around, but, just in case.....

I'm with you on the latter part though, which is why I posted this thread....times do change and my previous list was over 7 years old....my collection has changed (added to in different areas) and the players have changed.
Most of it would go to my son, but if he needed the funds for college/house and only wanted to keep certain pieces and sell the rest, I don't want him to get screwed over on it.

Bochiman · January 12, 2018 12:41AM

@Justacommeman said:

@topstuf said:
Littleton and Coin Vault

An hour later I'm still laughing

m

Sadly, knowing him, he may have been serious.....

Timbuk3 · January 12, 2018 1:51AM

Great Collections !!!

au58 · January 12, 2018 5:09AM

Gerry Fortin.

mustangmanbob · January 12, 2018 6:59AM

Coinstar. :'(

ricko · January 12, 2018 7:16AM

Well this is a dreary topic.... I have told my wife what to do with my coins in general. And she is intelligent enough - and informed enough - to seek out information on current situations. This is not something I am worried about. Cheers, RickO

logger7 · January 12, 2018 7:32AM

I don't have a huge collection, don't know if those charged with the duty would know how to dispose. Sister in law lost a brother, no will apparently makes the tax bite big and complicates probate. He had investments around 100k, not much else. 20 years or so when I was in my "big shot" phase, different story.

oih82w8 · January 12, 2018 8:06AM

Pftt...are you crazy? I am taking them with me!

LeeBone · January 12, 2018 8:11AM

Good question, as I have/had been thinking about that for quite a while.
Ultimately I have decided to slowly start liquidating my collection to prevent any issues that could arise after I'm gone.

Jimnight · January 12, 2018 8:26AM

My collection doesn't amount to much of anything, so I never gave it any thought.

OKbustchaser · January 12, 2018 8:27AM

Honestly? I couldn't care less. My collection was put together for MY benefit--not anyone else's. Once I'm through with it my heirs can melt it all down to paperweights for all it would matter to me.

I have insurance and investments to take care of them financially. I truly believe that there is something wrong with spending such substantial amounts on a collection that one's heirs would have sell to survive.

Broadstruck · January 12, 2018 9:58AM

Feeling good right now so can I tell you tomorrow?

Bochiman · January 12, 2018 11:30AM

As always seem to happen, people put a spin onto the question that was never part of the original question....

Nowhere did I say that heirs would need to sell to survive. I only asked what people's thoughts were to get help selling so there wasn't a big loss.

I, also, agree that buying for a hobby, when that expenditure would financially hurt, is not smart. It's always been discretionary income for me. HOWEVER, one's discretionary income may not always last, and there may be a time to sell...and that may be AFTER you are gone....and you may be gone SUDDENLY.

So, selling it yourself, slowly, while you are alive, is all good and dandy, but if you passed much sooner than you expected or planned to, you may not have had time to sell it.

I guess I look at it like this.....I actually love, and care for, my current "heirs". So, if I were to pass from this world, unexpectedly, I would wish them the best and want them to get the most from my worldly possessions that they could. Whether enjoyment or monies. If I didn't care about them, then I would either take the coins with me or I wouldn't care if they got face value (esp for my 1/2c collection )

To put this in a little personal, and then forum, perspective, I have been, since last summer, dealing with my mother's estate, as the trustee, the executor, and the heir. She, too, had been trying to winnow her possessions down, to "help out" dealing with them when she would ultimately pass. She passed a few years earlier than she, or any of us, expected....due to cancer treatments (I've heard said, it isn't always the cancer that kills, but often the treatment...very true, we found out) and a doctor who decided to treat the disease and ignore the patient.
Luckily, her numismatic holdings were slim by then...she never had truly expensive items, but had purchased some things from the USMint and too many SHQs...

Then, from the forum side, I recently, due to my mother's estate, had to file something with the court.....I had a choice: Downtown Seattle or Kent. I HATE downtown Seattle....traffic, parking, and just plain dirty due to their policies. I chose Kent.
As many may remember, Russ (RIP) lived in Kent. So, as I got close down there, I passed where he used to work and then parked in the same lot as I used to use for coin shows where I would meet up with Russ.
Russ passed MUCH more suddenly than he expected. He had coins.

Both of those got me to thinking about myself and, while I had names from years ago, like I said in the OP, many of those names are no longer valid in the same way they were then. Either because the dealer moved on, passed away, or my collection changed.

Thanks for the responses so far.

Coinstartled · January 12, 2018 11:35AM

Rick Snow.

Peace_dollar88 · January 12, 2018 11:42AM

I try and educate my family on my coin collection. hopefully my son will pick it up where I left off.

ctf_error_coins · January 12, 2018 11:43AM

I tell my family to sell the rest of my coins (inventory) ONE-AT-A-TIME. Take great photos of the coins. List them on ebay with a 99 cent auction start price. The coins will sell themselves. My family will not lose money on the value of my coins.

shorecoll · January 12, 2018 11:50AM

One issue I have and haven't dealt with is that I used to buy retired dealers junk boxes, not FROM their junk boxes, the whole shebang. So I have 100# +/- of everything from BU lincolns to AU Mercs to AG seated dimes and everything else you can imagine, thousands of these bastages. Who wants to deal with that? Stack's once told me that they would, that they used an outsourcer for that stuff who would buy it all and sometimes send them surprisingly large checks. I can send this box here and that box there, but the big pile I have no idea. I bought this stuff as a retirement project, so if I make it that far, no problem.

johnny9434 · January 12, 2018 11:57AM

smelters :'(

BuffaloIronTail · January 12, 2018 12:09PM

@thebigeng said:
Local dealer I know and trust....

Yep..............I've already made that known. But I ain't planning on going anywhere for awhile..........

Pete

Elcontador · January 12, 2018 12:12PM

Directives are in my trust. My wife keeps the coins she likes, the rest is spelled out. I prefer using an individual I know who is part of an organization rather than the organization itself.

Bochiman · January 12, 2018 12:16PM

@Elcontador said:
Directives are in my trust. My wife keeps the coins she likes, the rest is spelled out. I prefer using an individual I know who is part of an organization rather than the organization itself.

Smart. My mother had a Living Trust created 4 years before she passed. I had never really known what one was until recently. One of the smartest things, imho, that anyone can do.
Much better than a will, especially in states like Washington.

Dave99B · January 12, 2018 12:53PM

Darn important topic, which will come into play at some point. I personally have documented my thoughts/ideas to help the wife. I have documented a few dealers I trust very well. Using Excel, I also have recorded when/where I bought each coin, and of course, what I paid for each piece. Of course, many of these coins were purchased 25-30 years ago, so I also have a more timely value estimate, which I update about once a year. It's important to me to keep all of this clear and simple - don't want this to be a headache for someone someday, at a very stressful time.

Dave

Treashunt · January 12, 2018 12:57PM

My son told me that he was just going to roll it up and take it to the bank.

I told him I would not care, I'll be dead.

He was upset that I wasn't upset.

I said, "hey, you're the one who will lose out."

crazyhounddog · January 12, 2018 1:50PM

My son of course. He’s been with me for most of the ride compared to anyone else in the family. He knows VERY well what my treasures are worth. That and he’s a chip off the old block and is very good with business dealings.
If ya can’t trust your family who can ya trust?
Great question by the way.

ms70 · January 12, 2018 2:11PM

I'd like to liquidate as many assets as possible before I die and acquire as many 1792 Half Dismes as possible...

And be buried with them!

Justacommeman · January 12, 2018 2:22PM

I think our Bear planned this exact thing out.

mark

tommy44 · January 12, 2018 2:33PM

Although my wife has no interest in collecting coins she does attend shows with me and knows the local dealers I would use to dispose of the low value stuff, junk silver and bullion related gold coins if it were time to do so. All the better stuff has been documented in Excel spreadsheets and certified or purchased certified in the last few years and we have discussed a couple of auction houses and/or dealers to contact when time to sell. I suppose I should write all that down should we both be gone leaving the loot to our heirs.

My wife will look at jewelry at shows or sit and read while I do my thing. Funny thing, last Friday she attended Scott Travers talk on "When To Sell Your Coins," at the FUN show with me. On the way home she suggested that maybe we should buy some $20 libs (jackpot).

Bochiman · January 12, 2018 3:29PM

@crazyhounddog said:
If ya can’t trust your family who can ya trust?

Sadly, sometimes, you can't even trust some of your family (also something I am learning/going through)

Coinstartled · January 12, 2018 3:33PM

@ErrorsOnCoins said:
I tell my family to sell the rest of my coins (inventory) ONE-AT-A-TIME. Take great photos of the coins. List them on ebay with a 99 cent auction start price. The coins will sell themselves. My family will not lose money on the value of my coins.

You should have the images already prepared. Not everyone is Ansel Adams,

renman95 · January 12, 2018 4:08PM

Takin' it with me...

ctf_error_coins · January 12, 2018 5:30PM

@Coinstartled said:

@ErrorsOnCoins said:
I tell my family to sell the rest of my coins (inventory) ONE-AT-A-TIME. Take great photos of the coins. List them on ebay with a 99 cent auction start price. The coins will sell themselves. My family will not lose money on the value of my coins.

You should have the images already prepared. Not everyone is Ansel Adams,

Well, if they looked they may find most images.

My 21 year old daughter grew up with a professional photographer as a father, I think she can shoot.

bsshog40 · January 12, 2018 6:16PM

Luckily my collection isn't so valuable that I have to have an outside venue to take over. I do keep a pretty good inventory using CoinManage and have shown my wife the program also. I think she can handle it.

drei3ree · January 12, 2018 6:32PM

WOW, some real control freaks here! I'll be dead, so I'm not at all worried about it. Most of my heirs have been to Oklahoma City with me a few times, so I'm guessing they'll all end up together in Oklahoma.

lablover · January 12, 2018 6:33PM

My wife has instructions to direct the liquation to my buddy Onlyroosies. No one could be trusted more!!!!

If you were to die today, who would you have wanted

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