Insuring

  Buying/Selling / Collecting / Insuring

Insurance

Before you incur a loss

Fake Insurance Company Logo, icon courtesy Tommaso sansone91, Wikimedia Commons

First, think about your insurance options.

  • Homeowners insurance
  • Renter's insurance
  • Special collection insurance

Your collection may already be insured, either in whole or in part, by existing insurance. All you need to do is ask your insurance agent. At some specific level, insurers will ask you to add a special "rider' that will cover your collection. Riders are normally highly affordable. They are definitely worth the price to gain additional piece of mind.

Some normal insurance companies may shy away from insuring nebulous collections of unprovable value. In that case, contact the American Numismatic Association. The ANA has a recommended insurer which routinely insures collections. (If you are not already a member of the ANA, please consider joining.)

Why insure?

I don't believe I know any collectors who relish the thought of insuring collections. However, the moment you let anyone know you collect something, your risk increases. Your friend is probably not a threat, but a friend or a friend or a friend might be. Before you go off half-cocked and think you are risk-free:

  • Talk to your insurance company and discover its specific requirements in case of loss.
  • Make good photos, photocopies or scans of your certificates. A list might suffice, but be assured that a picture will be much better. Keep images in a locations separate from your collection. Images do not necessarily need to be secure, but they need to be separate in case of thefts, fires, floods, hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes.
  • Keep good records of your certificates — including dates — and make notes of the ones you sell. Records and images should go a long way to insurance payoff in the case of loss.
  • Ask your insurance company what proof of ownership it requires. Insurers are rarely happy about giving you money after a loss. The more you prepare for that eventuality, the more likely the insurer will hand over a check.
  • Look around at your living, storage, and protection situations realistically and unemotionally.  What is the likelihood of devastation from natural, let along manmade sources? After all, every location has some degree of threat, and it's generally manageable. Still, every year, another area like yours gets wrecked by unanticipated floods, storms, wildfires, wind storms, tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, high tides, landslides, etc. I am not suggesting succumbing to paranoia, simply preparedness. I bet your spouse and insurance agent will agree.

For insurance purposes, photos, photocopies, or scans should, at the minimum, be in color and show the entire fronts of certificates. Make sure images are sufficiently good to show serial numbers. Make closeups of important signatures. I doubt insurance companies will care about the backs, but it is still a good idea to ask your agent.

Appraisals

Above some level of potential worth, insurers will frequently ask for appraised valuations of your collection. Never ASSUME they won't ask for that. Again, learn their expectation with a phone call.

PLAN ON PAYING FOR APPRAISALS

If you are interested in having someone estimate the value of a single certificate or an entire collection, please contact one or more of the many fine international dealers who specialize in collectible stocks and bonds. Some dealers offer appraisals; some don't. Always expect to pay for appraisers' time. Their time will not be free. Make sure you let them know whether you are willing to sell.

I DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, OFFER APPRAISALS

Please don't ask.

MY PRICE ESTIMATES ARE STRICTLY ESTIMATES

Please, do not construe any price estimate on this site as an appraisal. My estimates represent what I think collectors will need to PAY to acquire certificates from professional dealers in the United States. My estimates absolutely do NOT represent what collectors might receive when selling.

APPRAISING AUTOGRAPHS

I list typical values that collectors have historically paid for celebrity autographs, but appraisers' estimates will differ. They are estimating current or future values, while I am reporting prices actually paid. I have records of thousands upon thousands of prices paid for railroad-related autographs and will tell you, as gently as possible, that prices are all over the place. Prices for autographs from famous, well-documented and enduring first-tier celebrities are the most stable and yet their prices are still widely variable. Prices for second-, third- and fourth-tier celebrities are extremely unpredictable.

APPRAISING AUTOGRAPHS FROM OBSCURE INDIVIDUALS

One final point. If you have a certificate signed by someone you think should be more well known, and therefore, should be more valuable, you are fighting an uphill battle in terms of valuation. Do not try to convince an appraiser of imagined value. No matter how deserving of fame such a person may have been, there is definite reality. If such a person has remained obscure after several decades, that means hardly anyone cares. There is little real chance that sales chatter and huckster hype — or a collector's cajoling — will change that status.