Keeping Track of Your Coins Can Be Taxing

NUMISMATIC CERTAINTIES ARE TAXES AND TAXES

- Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez

Surely you keep your coins safe in an album, folder, or display case. Perhaps your numismatic books are organized neatly on a shelf in your study. And you might even dedicate a special spot for storing your numismatic supplies and accessories. But how well do you keep records of the valuables you have in your collection?

Is managing your numismatic collection on paper, a computer program, smartphone app something you do at all? Do you have a thorough list of your numismatic assets in case a natural disaster or other emergency strikes? Know what to show Uncle Sam in case he (or his well-dressed associates) come knocking on your door for answers about the bullion coins you claim for tax deferment in your Individual Retirement Account? Are you aware of the stipulations – and loopholes – concerning collectibles and retirement accounts? And, as much as you may not want to think about this, do you have all your affairs sorted, so your heirs know what to do with your collection – or even where to find it?

Yes, these questions may be heavy and many, but they’re designed to get you thinking about keeping your numismatic house organized on paper. And these probably aren’t the questions you signed up to answer when you began collecting coins – or selling coins if you’re a part-time coin dealer or numismatist who has liquidated coins for personal reasons. Yet for better or perhaps worse, we’re no longer in an era when a simple handshake is good enough to seal a numismatic deal, or in a time when financial matters can be sorted merely in one’s mind, or when taxing authorities turn a blind eye to profits made on a coin sold for the purpose of upgrading a collection – or for simply paying the rent.