Inherit a COIN COLLECTION?

ADVICE FOR HEIRS TO DETERMINE NEXT STEPS

- PAT RAIA

Ten years ago, a family turned to Ian Russell when they discovered that their grandmother was not telling tales when she talked about a valuable coin she had bought years before.

“She always talked about this coin and how it would be valuable by the time they inherited it,” recalls Russell who is president of GreatCollections Coin Auctions. “But the family knew nothing about it, and they could never find it - they thought she was crazy.”

The family explained that in the 1960s their grandmother had squirreled away a portion of her salary as a secretary for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for six months to spend $225 on an 1842-O Liberty Gold Eagle coin that she expected to become valuable someday.

“Somebody had told her to invest in one valuable coin and hang on to it,” Russell explains. “When she passed away, the family finally found the coin, and it brought $52,700 when we sold it at auction.”

INHERITED COINS 

According to Russell, the tale is not an unusual one - in fact, it’s one he hears all the time.

“We get calls every day from people who are in that position – people who inherit a coin or a collection from a relative,” he says. “Sometimes the collector leaves instructions for the family, sometimes not – sometimes the collection is worth thousands of dollars; sometimes not.”

According to Marketwatch, a website that offers financial information including analysis and stock market data, between seven and 10 million Americans collect coins, either seriously or as amateurs.