Coin Collection of Deceased Makes Millions at Auction

In Carson City, more than $3.5 million dollars worth of coins were sold at an auction to cover taxes owed by the late Walter Samaszko Jr. who was found dead in his home last year. Mr. Samaszko kept to himself. Even though he lived in the same neighborhood for over twenty years, no one knew much about him. He lived a humble lifestyle. However, he had a coin collection stored in old ammunition boxes worth millions in his garage. There were more than 2,900 Austrian coins, 5,000 Mexican coins, 500 British coins, and over 300 U.S. gold pieces. Purchase records were found in the garage dating back to 1964. Around that time, the price of gold was about $35 per ounce. Currently, gold sells for more than $1,600 an ounce.

Mystery and the value of the coin collection attracted auction participants. Bidders inspected the eleven lots of gold before the bidding began. One bidder, Alan Rowe, purchased nine of the eleven lots for sale. Rowe remarked that some of the coins would be available online while other coins would be marketed on television. The coins available during the recent auction were expensive because they were made of gold. There will be a second auction specifically for the rare coins, which was the larger part of the coin collection. About $800,000 of the money collected from the auction will go to pay taxes and fees. The rest of the money will go to Mr. Samaszko's sole heir.

See Matt Woolbright, Recluse Walter Samaszko Jr.'s Gold Fortune To Be Auctioned To Pay Taxes, HuffingtonPost.com, Feb. 26, 2013.

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Attorney at law, Florida Probate Attorney Wills and Estates Law Firm) for bringing this to my attention.