WHEN COINS ARE INHERITED

Dave Bowers, in his delightful Expert's Guide to Collecting and Investing in Rare Coins, advised, "You may plan to keep your collections for all your life. If so, it is highly important that the future of your rare coins, paper money, and other items be included in your estate planning. It has been my experience that 19 out of 20 heirs who inherit coins have little interest in continuing the parent's hobby, and as an early order of business they set about selling them—often in the wrong way."

Tom Bilotta shared similar observations in Collecting Coins in Retirement: An Action Guide and Estate Advice for Hobbyists and Their Families: "For someone without coin-collecting experience, the task of managing the disposition of an inherited collection can be daunting. Trying to obtain fair value for hard assets that you do not understand is both stressful and likely to produce poor results. Many inheritors do not know where to start and are completely overwhelmed. As a result, many sell the collection quickly for cash, but this method frequently returns only a small portion of the potential value of the collection." Tom recommends that heirs approach the task methodically, spend a few weeks in research to build their confidence, and create an accurate inventory.

Beth Deisher even wrote a whole book on the subject: Cash In Your Coins: Selling the Rare Coins You've Inherited. As editor of Coin World for twenty-seven years, she fielded many phone calls, letters, and emails from readers who had inherited coin collections and knew nothing about them. "Not everyone who reached out to me inherited coins of great value," Beth says, "but it seems almost every family has a stash of ‘old coins' that's been passed down, and their stories have been remarkably similar. The heirs knew very little about the coins, and they were apprehensive about selling them, fearing they'd be ‘taken' by buyers." They have good reason to worry. One dealer I know bitterly described what he calls "the widow game"—when unscrupulous hotel-ballroom buyers and other fleece artists heartlessly rip off widows who don't know the true value of their inheritance.

Longtime dealers understand the pitfalls that heirs can face when they don't know about coins, paper currency, medals, tokens, and other collectibles. Many give this advice: Sell during your lifetime. Don't leave the majority of your collection to your heirs, unless they're collectors themselves. The process of selling your coins before you shuffle off this mortal coil increases your enjoyment of your collection. It gives you control over the process, in a field you understand and can navigate. And for your heirs, cash is always easier to divide than coins.

Good advice. I've seen this from multiple perspectives over the years. Like most collectors I focused only on building my collections, and rarely thought much about disposing them. As it happened, life choices along the way led me to sell my mainline coin and literature collections before I even retired. But these weren't wrenching decisions - the fun is in the finding and building. Managing the sales myself ensured that we received good value, and it was rewarding to see the items acquired by other collectors who valued them as much (or more!) than I did, and leaving far less stuff for my family to deal with someday.

I've seen a valuable numismatic library end up in the hands of a general bookseller where deluxe editions went unrecognized and became bargains for knowledgeable buyers (but depriving the collector's family of their full value). I helped a friend's widow sell a massive inherited coin, token and medal collection, and the single most valuable item turned out to be a book that might have otherwise ended up in a garage sale.

I've started collecting again on a smaller scale, and likely will sell again someday before leaving another collection for my family to deal with. But a well-organized and documented collection accompanied by disposition instructions is the next best option for everyone. Please don't neglect that aspect of the hobby. -Editor