[NHCOLL-L:785] RE: FWD: Specimen Values

[Bob Glotzhober]

A long-standing policy at our museum is to never place a value on any
donation (we have natural history, archaeology, and history objects plus an
archives/library).  This gets into ethical questions such as are you
under/over valuing them, or valuing them low so that they are donated and
not sold.  What we do provide is a detailed list of objects and their
condition, which the donor signs over in a Deed of Gift.  It is their
responsibility then to assign the value or find an outside appraiser to
assign the value that they use on their income tax.  They have the deed of
gift (and we do too for our records) that proves they made the donation.
Also, if you provide a value, you stand in danger of getting in the middle
of a fight with IRS over their tax return.  No Thanks!


> ===========================================
> Robert C. Glotzhober		bglotzhober at ohiohistory.org
> Curator of Natural History		phone  614 297-2633
> Ohio Historical Society		fax       614 297-2233
> 1982 Velma Avenue
> Columbus  OH  43211-2497
> 
> Visit the Web Site of the Ohio Historical Society at
> http://www.ohiohistory.org/
> 
> See our "Curators Curiosities" web page at
> http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/collect/curator/index.html
> 
> Visit the Web Page of the Ohio Odonata Society (dragonflies & damselflies)
> at
>    http://mcnet.marietta.edu/~odonata/index.html
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Cindy Ramotnik [SMTP:ramotnik at UNM.EDU]
> Sent:	Tuesday, November 14, 2000 9:55 AM
> To:	NHCOLL-L
> Subject:	[NHCOLL-L:777] FWD: Specimen Values
> 
> I am resending this request and have included John Hubbard's email
> address so that you can contact him directly. 
> 
> This message was originally posted to AVECOL-L. With the writer's
> permission I am forwarding it here for a more general audience
> response. Please respond directly to John at <jphubbard at cybermesa.com> 
> as he is not subscribed to NHCOLL-L.
>  
> Thanks,
> Cindy
> 
> =========================================================================
> Hi, all--We have a donor that wants to give the Museum of Southwestern
> Biology a small collection of natural-history specimens, including (a)
> study skins with data; (b) study skins without data; and (c) museum
> mounts of mainly medium-sized birds (e.g., American Avocet and
> Ring-billed Gull).  I want to suggest values for each of these three
> categories, so the donor can use them for tax purposes.  However, I
> don't have any recent information to quote for his use.  Given this, I
> would appreciate any figures that people in the museum "trade" might
> have to offer--mainly for relatively well-prepared specimens of common
> species taken in the late 19th/early 20th centuries.  Thanks for any
> help you can provide--
> 
> John Hubbard
> jphubbard at cybermesa.com << File: Card for Cindy Ramotnik >>