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Appraisers will often assign an average value per specimen or lot in a large collection, and individually appraise only rare or historically significant items. In general, however, it is not worth the expense to insure collections. Our invertebrate paleontology collection has something on the order of 1 million specimens. Assign them an average value of $2 apiece, and all of a sudden you're paying premiums on a $2 million insurance policy. If disaster strikes, and the collection has to be replaced, you'll find that it can't be replaced--many of the localities no longer exist, new type specimens can't be designated, etc. If you insure based on the investment in the collection (the actual cost of recollecting similar material, and sorting, cataloguing, and housing it), the cost of insurance is even more prohibitive. Knowing what that investment is can be useful in defending the value of collections, but it should not be used as the basis for insuring them. In the case of a teaching collection, it probably would be replaceable, but in that case, I think the community would willingly respond to a plea after a disaster by contributing specimens. So don't waste money on appraisals and insurance if there's any way to avoid it. Gary Rosenberg >>> rxlock@wm.edu 10/27/03 11:08AM >>> Hi folks, My college is reorganizing our insurance program and has asked me to estimate the value of our fossil collection (primarily a teaching collection). I don't have much experience in this area and was wondering if anyone out there had any advice on how to proceed? I'm especially interested in estimates of teaching collection size and value from other colleges/universities. Thanks very much for your time, Rowan Lockwood -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regular mailing address: Rowan Lockwood Department of Geology The College of William and Mary P.O. Box 8795 Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795 Fed Ex mailing address: Rowan Lockwood Department of Geology The College of William and Mary McGlothlin-Street Hall Rm 226 Williamsburg, VA 23185 Phone: 757/221-2878 Fax: 757/221-2093 Email: rxlock@wm.edu
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