What to do with valuable antiques

cambb

HI,
We are in the process of sorting out my Fathers house following his passing and have come across various antiques which are not willed to anybody. The will is very straight forward with the estate going to me and my brother. He has various Royal Doulton figurines , Tiffany plates and 2 bottles of WW2 Cognac that are dated 1940 however were over 20 years old when they were bottled so say from the 1920's. Any ideas on how to get these valued and what would people do with them?
Thanks

Margot123

My solicitor advised me to call in a specialist auctioneer for such items. They were put through auction, and the proceeds added to the state residue. It is the fairest way.

Try not to get embroiled in arguments such as 'he promised me this', or 'he would have wanted me to have such and such'. You may have friends/relatives who will say things like that. Keep it straightforward to avoid any conflict (it can and does happen).

Linton

Even If you and/ or your brother wish to keep the items the auctioneers should be able to provide an informed valuation. You should be able to find a suitable local company on the net.

LilElvis

I would start with Google and eBay for the china as, apart from a few older, more rare pieces, they are unlikely to have any significant value. Most Doulton figurines are easy to identify as the style number will be included on the base.

cambb

One of the figurines is called Fruit Gathering HN707 which does seem to be valuable. Any ideas about the Cognac? The label is Normandin's -- Cognac Fine Champagne, Over twenty Years Old and states on the label Specially shipped by the Civil Service Stores?

LilElvis

That's not the number I'm seeing for that title.

This is a sale of that figurine name from a reputable auction house:

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22770/lot/140/

Yorkshireman99

cambb wrote: »

HI,
We are in the process of sorting out my Fathers house following his passing and have come across various antiques which are not willed to anybody. The will is very straight forward with the estate going to me and my brother. He has various Royal Doulton figurines , Tiffany plates and 2 bottles of WW2 Cognac that are dated 1940 however were over 20 years old when they were bottled so say from the 1920's. Any ideas on how to get these valued and what would people do with them?
Thanks

Unless the estate is likely to attract IHT I would just declare a nominal value for the house contents without itemising them.

Keep_pedalling

Auctioneers regularly sell wines and spirits so should also be able to value that, but personally I would crack it open and drink a toast to your dad.

Grumpelstiltskin

You need to look on E Bay at what items have sold for not what are for sale.

This is what comes up for Tiffany plates for instance.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=tiffany%20plate&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

Savvy_Sue

Agree with getting an auctioneer in to value items: they will do this even for items they do not wish to offer for sale.

That then gives you a figure to add into the value of the estate. If either of you wants to keep anything which has an actual value, you deduct that from your half of the value of the estate. If you both want the same thing, you toss for it, or send it to auction and go and bid against each other.

Of course, if you're of the "life's too short to fall out over a will" brigade, you just use these figures to work out what the estate is worth, agree what each of you wants to keep, sell what neither of you want, and divvy up the cash between you without worrying whether he's got more than you have in terms of memorabilia. If there's just the two of you, no-one else will care ...