Value of herbarium specimens?

[Barry M. OConnor]

At 8:16 AM -0600 7/25/01, Una Smith wrote:
>A reasonable minimum value of a mounted, labeled specimen would be the
>current cost of labor and materials to do the mounting and labeling.
>
This may be true, but for tax purposes it doesn't matter.  Only "fair
market value" can be used.  There used to be tables circulating in the
entomological community which calculated all of the costs in making a
specimen, and people used them in appraising monetary value of a donated
collection.  The IRS said those tables were worthless.  For entomologists,
there are lots of people selling big showy bugs, so for those, "fair market
value" can be obtained easily.  For herbarium specimens, it might not be so
easy. - Barry

Barry M. OConnor
Curator & Professor             phone: (734) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (734) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA