With an eye on the $800,000 worth of inheritance tax due to Uncle Sam, District Judge James Wilson of Carson City, Nevada set an auction date for the $7.4 million coin collection of the late Walter Samaszko, Jr.
As reported in theLas Vegas Sun, the gold coins will be auctioned off on February 26 at the Carson City courthouse.
“It’s going to be a real auction with those interested provided paddles to place their bid,” said Carson City Clerk Alan Glover, who is handling the administration of Samaszko’s estate. “And they will be seated in the jury box of the courtroom.”
Samaszko’s inheritance $800,000 tax is due in March. After that bill is paid, the rest of his estate will be assigned to Arlene Magdanz of San Rafael, California. After Samaszko passed away in his home last May leaving no will, she was identified as his only living relative.
At the time of his death, Samaszko lived alone in his Carson City home earning only $500 a month from stock investments. His body was discovered after neighbors complained of an odor emanating from the home. It was then that his death was discovered.
Later, while his home was being cleaned, boxes of gold coins were discovered in boxes in his garage among boxes of tuna, inside an old washing machine, and hidden in the crawlspace beneath the house. The final tally included 2,695 gold coins from various countries. Most were gold American Eagle coins, but he also had stashed British sovereigns hailing from the 1840s, South African Krugerrands and Austrian ducats.
At the Carson City auction in late February the collection of gold coins will be on display for inspection and will be under the watch of armed guards.
The gold coins will be auctioned off in lots of 10 or 11 coins, and starting bids must represent at least 98.5 percent of the price of gold on the day of the auction.
Winning bidders will have 24 hours to pay for their gold coin purchases.
At least a half-dozen inquiries about bidding on the collection have already come in, Glover reported.
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byUnited States Gold Bureau