How do you value your collection?

[Charlie]

I've only really ever valued pieces never put together a sum...  X is worth X and Y is worth Y so Z*X+N*Y="Yeah, I have no clue".  If my house caught one fire, I'd just go back and print off every acquisition post and my website stuff...

[eatbrie]

It took me 10 years or so to put my collection together, and that, to me, is worth more than the price of the posters, since I can't replace time.

I also know that I wouldn't sell any of my posters, even the bad ones, for less than $1.  So my collection is worth at least $7,000.

T

[eatbrie]

Someone was asking me the other day if my collection was insured.  I answered that it wasn't and that I had no idea what it was worth anyway (nor did I really care, to be honest).  But as I am quickly approaching 5,000 pieces, I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't.  Have any of you guys dealt with this before?  Everything else I own is insured, house, furniture, fine art, but posters...  I draw a blank.

T

Hahaha, that's funny.  I started this thread in 2010 when I owned 5,000 posters.  As I'm now past 13,000 pieces, I decided it was time to insure my collection.  An impossible task, really.  Hard to insure something worth $5k and something worth $1 together.  So I looked through my website and divided my collection into three categories, posters I know are worth more than $1,000, posters worth more than $500 and the rest.  I will insure the first two categories, mainly to keep my wife quiet, and forget the rest.

How do you guys do it?

T

[timelessmoviemagic]

I've actually just done mine this week. We are moving house soon so getting everything in order.

There's no way I can insure each individual one so I've done exactly what you did T except on a lesser scale. Anything above £200 I have insured.

The policy I have is £100,000 contents of which the maximum £30,000 is deemed valuables (posters).

The cost was £64 for the year, a steal really and the best bit is I went through a 'special site' to get £31 cash back haha. (so £33)

Marc

[Crazy Vick]

I have about 25K of valuables so I try and keep my collection around that. Not an exact science of course. T, in this case I would listen to the wife.   She is totally right and you are doing the right thing.   

[Antoine1973]

I have insurance for my fine art collection (mostly Old Master paintings and rare books), and that covers all my works on paper as well (Old Master drawings, rare maps, prints, and movie posters).

[Tob]

I have contents insurance, but started a separate policy for posters/prints a couple of years back. I have a list and photos of all the posters/prints I have and totted up a rough value, then insured it for that amount.

[eatbrie]

I have insurance for my fine art collection (mostly Old Master paintings and rare books), and that covers all my works on paper as well (Old Master drawings, rare maps, prints, and movie posters).

Good advices, all.

Antoine, since you're a collector of fine art, have you ever thought of loaning part or all of your collection to museums?  There are a few advantages to that: 1) They pay your insurance, 2) they insure perfect humidity and lighting, 3) no fear of thieves, 4) it gets to be seen, and 5) and perhaps most importantly, a piece of art has a pedigree (where it's been, exhibits, collectors, literature) that can sometimes be more important than the art itself, and being in a museum is an added selling point should you decide to sell in the future.  It's proof that your art is good enough to be exhibited.  Then you can just make a perfect copy of the original, put it on your wall in the original frame and ta-da, let the thieves in

T

[Antoine1973]

Thierry, I have indeed thought of loaning my fine art collection to museums.  I have a few paintings that actually used to belong to public collections (among them a 16th century Italian portrait from the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, and a 17th century allegory from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio), and one work that was exhibited at the Met Breuer not too long ago.  I'm fully aware of the fact that having an association with a museum or public institution is a bonus for the provenance of any artwork, and therefore adds to its value.  At the same time, I do like to see my paintings on the walls daily and live with them, so I'm not quite ready for a long-term loan.  But it's definitely something that I'm open to at some point in the future.

[eatbrie]

Yes, enjoying the real thing is a must, but not fearing thieves and not paying insurance also works.

Btw, I admire your boldness in sharing your fine art collection on a public forum.  You must have quite the security system  . This is not something I could do.  Movie posters are one thing, most people don't care about them, but fine art is a whole different beast.

T

[Simes]

My spreadsheet has all the current values, and then, per the insurers' demands, anything over £1k has to be specified in the inventory for their quote.

That is how it has been done, as part of the household contents.  We will see if there is an argument to be had if ever there is a reason to claim...

[ddilts399]

I pray for no natural disasters is my insurance as I cannot afford to insure it!

[kubu]

Insurance was invented to avoid financial collapse in case of a catastrophe. So if my house burns down I need to rebuild it and have a new household. Thats why I insure both.
If my posters are destroied I would not have to replace them so I'd just loose invested money what would be sad but would not affect my family nor financial survival. That's why I do not insure the posters irrespective of their value.

[jayn_j]

My spreadsheet has all the current values, and then, per the insurers' demands, anything over £1k has to be specified in the inventory for their quote.

That is how it has been done, as part of the household contents.  We will see if there is an argument to be had if ever there is a reason to claim...

How do you figure current values?  The only hard value is what I paid for it, and generally that just means it was worth slightly less to some other fool.

I suppose one can track every sale of every poster one owns, but that would be too OCD even for me.