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the litigation to enjoin the second auction. Approximately
4 months later, Mr. Leidman appraised the 191 coins at $3.451
million. The estate used this appraisal to value the coins at
$3,192,175 on the estate tax return; the reported value equals
the $3.451 million appraisal less an estimated 7.5 percent
seller's commission of $258,825 which would be payable to
Superior assuming that all 191 coins sold at the second auction.
Mr. Leidman also valued the 191 coins at $4.5 million as of the
date of the decedent's death, and $3.78 million as of the
alternate valuation date.
During the litigation between Superior and the estate, the
estate recovered 36 additional coins which were owned by the
decedent, and which Mr. Goldberg had not disclosed to the estate
beforehand. The decedent had consigned most of these coins to
Superior to sell at auctions other than the two scheduled in
1992. It was not until Mr. Goldberg was questioned about
additional coins during the discovery process in the superior
court proceeding that he admitted that some of the decedent's
other coins were in his possession. In or around March 1993,
Superior informed the estate that the decedent had consigned
numerous coins to Superior in 1991, and that 24 of these coins
had not yet been sold. One month later, Superior returned these
24 coins to the estate along with two other coins. The remaining
10 coins (out of the 36 additional coins recovered by the estate)
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