Hi Dan,

You are absolutely correct in our eyes.  Many collectors are
knowledgeable enough about "fair market values" to handle a shell
collection appraisal.  But in the eyes of IRS (for our overseas
members, IRS, Internal Revenue Service, is our government tax bureau)
they want a "qualified appraiser" who makes their living in the
objects being appraised when the collection is donated to a 501(c) 3
not-for-profit organization.

Appraised collection values under $5,000.00 do not need a qualified
appraisal.  If you are not audited, everything can be
peachy-keen.  But if you are audited, the entire appraisal can be
negated by IRS.  Alternatively, if you just want to know the value of
your collection, any qualified collector can do the appraisal.  I
covered much of this during the round-table session at the convention.

Most importantly, educate your family about your collection.  Not to
be morbid, but if you sudden kick-off, your family may not know what
to do with your collection.  I frequently run into this
scenario.  The family knows nothing about their loved-one's
collection and are frantic to know the value of the collection so
that the collector's estate can be finalized and disbursed.  The more
your family knows about your collection and its value the easier it
will be to handle your estate.

These issues are much like life insurance and burial plots -- the
things we do not want to think about or deal with.  You spend large
portions of your life amassing these wonderful and often
scientifically important collections.  Decide its disposition
(whether donating to a museum, selling, or passing along to a family
member) and document everything you can while you are living.  Also,
if you decide to sell the collection to a dealer or collector, don't
expect anywhere near market value for it unless it is sold
piece-meal.  And make sure to have the collection appraised by a
totally independent entity from the person wanting to buy the
collection for obvious reasons.

Relative to collection insurance, most insurance companies will not
insure natural history collectibles.  It has more to do with
fluctuating values and the insurance company's lack of knowledge
about the objects.  If you can get your insurance company to add a
rider to your policy for the collection, it often will cost more than
the collection is worth.  It probably is not worth pursuing insurance
unless your collection has an appraised value above
US$25,000.00.  Insuring your collection would also require that you
have an appraisal of your "growing" collection every year.

These issues are dilemmas that we all confront and have to grapple
with.  We only touched the tip of the iceberg during the roundtable
discussion.  This issues are often fair more complex due to our own
individual financial situations and the extent of our collections.

Rich
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.worldwideconchology.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At 10:11 AM 9/3/2010, you wrote:
>I'm sorry I missed that roundtable!  I simply don't believe that you need a
>full-time
>shell dealer for an appraisal.
>
>As far as I know, there are no longer any full-time shell dealers in
>Massachusetts, and
>it seems unlikely that a local donor or insurance buyer could be required to
>bring one
>in from out of state.
>
>Any authority who is good at identifications and familiar with the market
>ought to be
>able to give such an appraisal, unless the shells are very rare or
>exceptional.  As a
>long-time collector, I've bought shells and shell collections from many
>sources, I've
>sold and traded shells, and I've appraised small donations to the Boston Mal
>Club.
>I don't see why the latter requires any special skills.
>
>So it probably depends on how much insurance you're buying.  If the value of
>your
>collection is less than $5,000, anyone who has a copy of Rice's Prices and
>is not
>afraid to use it ought to be able to appraise the shells.
>
>Dan Teven
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Rich" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 11:23 PM
>Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Shell Collection Insurance
>
>
>>There was a roundtable at the COA Meeting last week about what to do with
>>your collection when you die. In order to get a tax deduction for donating
>>the collection to a museum, you need to have it appraised by a full-time
>>shell dealer.  I imagine your insurance company would need a similar
>>appraisal to cover your collection.
>>
>>Rich Pierce
>>Massacusetts
>
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