Posts: 57
From:
Registered: Jan 2016

posted 02-13-2016 07:37 PM               

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I have what I feel is a rather nice and extensive collection of flown artifacts, hardware, signed items, etc. I need to put this under my insurance policy. However, I am having difficulty in establishing insurance values for the unique items. How does the rest of the community go about this? By the way, I live in a rather remote area, but it does have a commercial airport.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Posts: 89
From: United States
Registered: Apr 2013

Posts: 57
From:
Registered: Jan 2016

posted 02-13-2016 10:09 PM               

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Very good point. Thanks for the help. I agree that this would have to be a separate policy.

My insurance guy told me that I would have to have estimated valuations on each artifact I order for a separate rider to be established. Things like signed prints are pretty easy to figure out, but other things that are more significant in my collection are more difficult to place a value, especially one of a kind things. I've had the advice to contact an auction house and send photos. Is that what people usually do or should I spend the money to fly one out to evaluate a collection in person? Furthermore, which auction house would be the best? These are questions that are stumping me.

Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009

posted 02-14-2016 01:20 AM               

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Just one point to be aware of — an insurance valuation is usually much higher than a valuation of an expected hammer cost. This said, your collection has two other values — your estimate of its worth to you and the price other people are prepared to pay to own it. Again, the two are not the same.

On edit: the golden rule on valuations is that provenance is everything.

Posts: 873
From: Orlando, FL
Registered: Jan 2014

posted 02-14-2016 06:46 AM               

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I did try and insure my collection a few years ago. My problem was I needed to have a written insurance valuation for each item in my collection. I have several thousand items ranging from $1.00 pins to Apollo 1 IFC boots. The thought of trying to separate, evaluate and then pay for a written appraisal on even the items of significant value would be daunting.

I live only a few miles from Ken Havekotte who I am sure would gladly do an appraisal. I am not sure I would want to spend the time, money or hassle of transporting and leaving my collection with someone else for a period of time as I feel it would take days for even a professional to go through, itemize and appraise all these artifacts. So I am left with no insurance coverage on my collection and few options short of hoping I never need it.

Posts: 153
From: Rocky Point, NY, USA
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 02-14-2016 08:44 AM               

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At the very least you should have a catalog or inventory of your collection. A reputable appraiser charges by the hour and a catalog/inventory would save them a lot of work, and you, a lot of money because it is one less step for them to take. Also, if you are able to, provide photos in a format that can be easily transferred to the appraiser's final report. If you have done this early leg work the appraiser will verify the existence of the items and be able to research current prices or a close approximation of current value in the market place. Appraisers typically do not verify authenticity and in the case of high value items would probably ask for authenticity to be substantiated through the opinion of an expert.

Since there are not very many retailers of space memorabilia the most likely source of market information would prices realized from auction sales. Here the difficulty would be finding an appraiser who has access to the prices realized information or a data base that would provide such information.

I worked for many years as a personal property appraiser in the jewelry and gem field. Run of the mill items, for example, engagement rings with certified center stones, were a piece of cake. Antique items, hallmarked pieces, and colored stones required much more work and research.

Sadly, the insurance company will typically ignore the appraiser's hard work and just flip through the report to see the reported values. In fact, the more vaguely worded a report is, the greater the advantage is to the company if they have to cover a loss. The more detailed the report is, the less the likelihood that a company will try to weasel out of paying less than the items were insured for. I speak from experience regarding the last point.

Posts: 2475
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 02-14-2016 12:39 PM               

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This topic has been discussed on cS before.

Check out my post for an insurance company that specializes in insuring collections.

Posts: 57
From:
Registered: Jan 2016

posted 02-14-2016 11:28 PM               

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Thanks for all the information and help. From the private messages that I've received, it seems that mostt just gave up on valuations of their collections and don't have insurance policies in effect. I understand that one can just call the auction houses, however, I have found that this can be quite costly and require multiple specialists to complete this process.

So as not to reinvent the wheel, is there anyone who has actually completed this process? What were your experiences with this and what would you have done differently?

Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012

Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 02-16-2016 02:56 PM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by Altidude:
So as not to reinvent the wheel, is there anyone who has actually completed this process?

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I have catalogued and insured most of my collection. There are long threads on this site where I have written a long (too long) post on how to insure a collection.

My experience is that you have some legwork to do and insurance and appraisal work cost money.

I am working on an article about how to do it now. I am editing it for errors. It will come out shortly.

Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003