Don?t Be A Victim

Dear Journal:

I often wonder whether all of those coins listed for sale on ebay as part of an ?Estate Sale? are really from the estate of someone who passed away. I did a random search on ebay for coins with ?Estate? in the title and got almost 2,000 listings. There is a certain attraction to a coin, if you think that it has been sitting in someone?s safe deposit box for 20 or 30 years, and it is now seeing the light of day for the first time in ages. Everyone is looking for a fresh coin that hasn?t been passed around the coin collecting community from dealer to dealer to dealer. I think some dealers know this and use the term ?Estate Sale? purely for marketing purposes. For these guys, every coin for sale is from an estate, whether it really is or not.

Then every once in a while, I run across a group of coins for sale on ebay or elsewhere that appear to be from a legitimate estate sale. They look different than the typical estate-sale coins listed everywhere on ebay. There is a thoughtful order to the collection, a group of coins that fit together, that possess a similar quality and look. They are typically of a higher grade, but may also be ungraded. The description might say something like, ?These coins were inherited from my father (or grandfather or uncle). He put this collection together over a period of 20 or 30 years. I don?t know anything about coin collecting, so I am selling them. They are listed here with good pictures so that you can grade them for yourself. Good luck bidding.?

Who was this collector, and is this how he would like his collection handled after his passing? Years of work (and enjoyment) putting this collection together, only to have it sold by his kids in a week for some quick cash. One may argue he?s dead, so who cares? Yet, it saddens me to see this happen, and perhaps there is a lesson to be learned. Teach your children to enjoy what you have and what you do, and perhaps they will enjoy your same interests. Perhaps they will then keep and build on your coin collection, and one day, pass it on to their children.