- 48 -
For the remaining categories, twenty-four-sheets, color
stills, and black and white stills, the record contained
insufficient facts upon which to base a reliable value.20 We
find that petitioners have failed to carry their burden of proof
in establishing a fair market value in those categories. Anselmo
v. Commissioner, 80 T.C. at 884-886. Therefore, respondent’s
valuation must be used for those three categories. However, we
also find that respondent, by virtue of having submitted an
expert report that values the collection at $5,733.49, nearly
three times greater than the $1,956 valuation underlying the
determination in the notice of deficiency, has effectively
conceded that $1,956 is too low to be the 1985 fair market value
of the collection. We therefore adopt the values in Warren’s
20 The only reference to a value for twenty-four-sheets was
to “The Misfits”, which was offered at a suggested price of $600
to $1,000 at the October 1985 Guernsey's auction, but was not
sold. Even with the drawbacks of being made in the auction
market without identification of a willing buyer, the offer
indicates that the twenty-four-sheets had some value in the
auction market. Also, the fact that AMMI had been organized by
1985 indicates that all movie memorabilia had some intrinsic
value not necessarily quantifiable by reference to sales in an
open market, much as the sculptures in Estate of Smith v.
Commissioner, 57 T.C. 650, 658 (1972), affd. 510 F.2d 479 (2d
Cir. 1975), were valuable even though the large size of many of
them restricted their appeal to museums and other like buyers.
AMMI’s willingness to restore the twenty-four-sheet for “Bwana
Devil” also indicates an intrinsic value, even if only for
purposes of scholarly research and display. However, these
indications are too slender a collection of reeds to sustain a
valuation of all 48 twenty-four-sheets in the collection.
The only reference to prices for stills was in Dietz, who
refused to give a specific range of values because there were too
many pricing variables.
Page: Previous 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011