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bronze in 1972. See Rule 142(a). But, we are convinced that
petitioner owned an 18-inch bronze of "The End of the Trail" and
that the bronze did have value in 1972. We, therefore, attempt
to obtain a value bearing in mind that petitioner does have the
burden of proof, and, to paraphrase Judge L. Hand, since absolute
certainty is impossible we weigh the facts heavily against
petitioner "whose inexactitude is of his own making." See Cohan
v. Commissioner, 39 F.2d 540, 544 (2d Cir. 1930); Clem v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1991-414.
Neither party presented any evidence as to the 1972 value of
the 18-inch version. Two 12-inch versions of "The End of the
Trail" were sold in 1971 and 1972 for $3,250. The larger
versions appear to have been somewhat more valuable. Petitioner
would have us extrapolate the value from sales, not surprisingly,
of pieces 32 inches or larger. But, there is no basis in this
record for making such a correlation. The 1971 and 1972 sales
have more probative value in our view. Using our best judgment,
we find that the 1972 fair market value of the 18-inch bronze was
$4,000.
Decision will be entered
under Rule 155.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011