-49-
coins, which were similar to the 191 coins, were valued by the
Court at $494,523 (an average of $13,737 per coin) as of the
applicable valuation date. We find the applicable fair market
value of the 31 coins using the $13,737 average value (31 x
$13,737 = $425,847).32
f. Rugs
By her own admission, Gonzalez removed three rugs from the
decedent’s home. While the estate asserts that these rugs had
little dollar value, we believe that these rugs were worth a lot
of money in light of the decedent’s wealth, lifestyle, and desire
to own (and be seen as owning) only the best of everything. In
fact, the value of these assets caused Gonzalez to expend the
time, effort, and expense to transport them cross-country from
the decedent’s home in Southern California to her home in
Florida.33
The decedent purchased 10 handmade rugs from Lloyds on
December 5, 1988. The receipts for that day indicate that the
decedent paid $276,000 to Lloyds for all of the items listed
therein and that the listed jade urns had been appraised at
32 We recognize that the parties stipulated that the value
of the 41 seized gold coins totaled $104,500 (an average of
$2,549 per coin). We do not believe that the stipulated value is
a proper measure of the value of the 31 coins.
33 The estate has not established that Gonzalez transported
any of these rugs to her home for sentimental reasons. In fact,
the record leads us to a contrary conclusion.
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