I also learned something quite important at the roundtable
discussion.  One of the museum participants stated that legally (IRS
rule) a museum cannot recommend an appraiser.  They can provide a
non-preferential list of appraisers, but the person or family
donating the collection must make the selection of the appraiser.

It was also mentioned that many or most museums want the appraisals
to be done off-site (away from the museum) unless the collection has
been formerly transferred to the museum.

Thirdly, IRS expects that the appraisal and donation be done in the
same year.  Often large collections are divided and donated in
portions; e.g. all of the shells in one family.  Having a long and
serious talk with a museum curator to which you would consider
donating your collection is just as important as bringing your family
up to speed.  A appraiser keeps records of each appraisal in case of
an audit, and the appraiser must make a visual inspection of the
collection for it to be validated by IRS.

It should be noted that all or most museums will not segregate and
store your collection.  It will be incorporated into the larger
collection, yet with database collection management it is easy to
find specimens that were donated by you to the museum.  Most museums
indicate on their data cards housed with the shells the name of the
donator of the specimen.

No matter what, the museum curator will give you a complete run-down
on what you can expect when donating your collection to their
museum.  Not all collections may be of interest to a particular
museum, but it is one avenue that you can pursue.

Ultimately the decision to donate or sell your collection will be
yours.  But most importantly, enjoy your collections here and
now.  The other less-palatable issues can be dealt in between field
collecting, cleaning, identification and cataloguing.

Rich

At 05:19 PM 9/3/2010, you wrote:
>I could not emphasize Rich's advice enough: Tell your next of kin what you
>want to do with your collection in the event of your untimely demise. Some
>years ago a gentleman called me from St. Louis. His mother had a huge
>freshwater mussel collection, but she had died and he had no use for it. He
>was (in his own words) "going to toss it in the dumpster" until a friend
>told him he could donate it and get a tax deduction. So he called me, I
>drove to St. Louis and picked it up, had it appraised, put it into our
>collection where it will (I hope) be forever maintained and available, and
>he got his tax deduction. Invaluable collection, beautiful specimens -
>destined for the land fill (She even had specimens purchased from Rich!).
>
>I have made arrangements for my collection when I go to that big mussel bed
>in the sky. You should, too.
>
>G. Thomas Watters, PhD
>Curator of Molluscs
>Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
>The Ohio State University
>Museum of Biological Diversity
>1315 Kinnear Road
>Columbus, OH 43212  USA
>v: 614-292-6170
>f: 614-292-7774
>
>"The world is my oyster except for months with an "R" in them" - Firesign
>Theatre
>
>"I have the world's largest collection of seashells.  I keep it on all the
>beaches of the world...  Perhaps you've seen it." - Steven Wright
>
>Visit the Division of Molluscs at:
>www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~molluscs/OSUM2
>
>
>"Let me take you, baby, down to the riverbed
>Gotta tell you something go right to your head" - Spirit
>
>So join the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society at:
>
>http://molluskconservation.org/
>
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