Five Reasons Why You Should Inventory Your Collection
Twenty years ago the only means available to create a list of your
collection was the tedious method of manually recording each item.
In 1982, Compu-Quote introduced our COINS computer software. A few
years later, with permission from the Scott publishing company,
we created the companion STAMPS application.
Our programs include several standard reports
as well as custom reporting, helping you to inventory, organize,
and evaluate your collection
These early programs, proved useful to coin and stamp collectors.
Today, the same programs, now titled Stamp Keeper and Coin Keeper,
have many more features and permit extensive inventorying, evaluation
and reporting of even the largest collections.
If your coin or stamp collection has any value, even if it is
only nostalgic, here are five good reasons for preparing an inventory
list.
# 1: - Knowing What You Own
As collections grow, it is easy to lose track of what items fill
your stamp albums or coin folders. Creating a computerized list
serves not only to identify the extent of your collection for your
purposes but also for those of your heirs. Should your collection
be valuable enough to warrant insuring it, your insurance agent
is most assuredly going to request an inventory. Only an accurately
recorded list will guarantee the proper coverage for the collection
you have spent so many years assembling.
# 2: - Knowing the Current Value of Your
Collection
HobbySoft''s software not only simplifies the task of recording
your collection but also automatically evaluates each item based
on its grade or condition. Current market values are "built-in"
to the program and are displayed and recorded with each new entry
you make. No need to look up prices in catalogs or magazines. Both
the Coin Keeper and Stamp Keeper packages, and their companion Deluxe
versions, contain thousands of current prices. More importantly,
each year a Market Value Update disk ($19.95 per database, $16.95
for Auto Club members) automatically re-evaluates each item in your
collection. At any time, a printed Value Report serves to update
your insurance coverage and notify your family of the current status
of your collection.
#3: - Knowing What You Don't Own
Every collector needs a Want List. Our programs generate this automatically.
Such a list serves as a shopping list that can be brought to a coin
or stamp show, an auction, or sent on to a dealer.Our software automatically
creates a want list of coins or stamps you still need to complete
your collection. HobbySoft owners can obtain annual market value
Update CDs that contain all new prices, the past years new items,
and all improvements to the program. What better way to stay current
with your hobby?
#4: - Being Prepared to Pass On or Sell
a Collection
Most all dealers and auction houses are reputable and fair. Still,
there are many instances when family members, having inherited a
sizeable collection, are tempted to sell it quickly with no idea
as to its true value. Even you, the collector, might regrettably
undervalue your collection when, for one reason or another, you
decide to dispose of it. A properly maintained inventory list removes
all doubt as to the starting point for price negotiations with any
individual or company interested in purchasing your collection.
#5: - Protection Against Theft or Destruction
No one expects to have his or her coin or stamp collection go up
in smoke. Nor do they envision a burglar walking off with it in
the middle of the night. Many take the precaution of placing the
more valuable items in a safe or bank vault. A very wise move, indeed.
But many collectors find neither the time nor inclination to go
to such steps to protect what they own. Insurance coverage, offered
to coin collectors by the American Numismatic Association, and stamp
collectors by the American Philatelic Society, is the best form
of protection available. Neither organization can offer such coverage,
however, without a detailed and current inventory report. Whether
created in the old manner by hand or by using a comprehensive computer
program such as ours, no collector can afford to accumulate a collection
without properly maintaining such a list.
HobbySoft ® by COMPU-QUOTE © Copyright 1982-2004 - Stamp Keeper TM, Coin Keeper TM, Stamp Keeper Deluxe TM, Coin Keeper Deluxe TM, Currency Keeper Deluxe TM, and HobbySoft ® are all Trademarks of COMPU-QUOTE - Questions about this
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