Guide · 4-minute read
Estate inventory sheet for jewellery, silver, watches and coins
The short answer
Print this sheet and give each piece of jewellery or silver, each watch, and each coin or group of coins a row of its own: what it is, where you found it, any marks, whether it has been photographed, keep, sell or ask, and anyone who has asked for it or whom the will names. Kept with the estate's papers, it is the record an executor can point to if a question comes up later.
The inventory sheet
Estate of ………………………………………… Filled in by ……………………………… Date …………… Sheet …… of ……
Estate inventory: jewellery, silver, watches and coins
| No. | Item | Where found | Marks seen | Photographed | Keep, sell or ask | Beneficiary | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||||||
| 2 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 4 | |||||||
| 5 | |||||||
| 6 | |||||||
| 7 | |||||||
| 8 | |||||||
| 9 | |||||||
| 10 | |||||||
| 11 | |||||||
| 12 |
Printing this page prints the sheet on its own, on one landscape A4 page. Print as many copies as you need and number them. The rest of the page explains how to fill it in.
How to fill in each column
Write in pencil if you can, so a row can be corrected when you learn more. One piece to a row, and the glossary will explain any word you meet on a mark or a receipt. A pair of earrings is one piece; a canteen of cutlery can be one row if it stays together, with the count in the notes.
- No.
- A running number. Write the same number on a label or a bag for the piece, so the row and the thing can always be matched.
- Item
- What it is, in plain words: gold wedding band, silver christening mug, gent's wristwatch, tin of pre-1947 coins. Add a colour or a stone if it helps tell two similar things apart.
- Where found
- The room and the place: bedroom, top drawer; coat in hall cupboard. This matters more than it seems, because it answers the question of whose a thing was.
- Marks seen
- Copy exactly what you can read, even if it means nothing to you yet: 375 and an anchor; 925 and a lion; EPNS; a name on a watch dial. UK hallmarks and fineness explains what each part of a hallmark means, with closer guides to marks on gold and marks on silver. Leave it blank rather than guess.
- Photographed
- Tick once there is a clear photograph of the piece and one of its marks. Note the photo number if your phone shows one.
- Keep, sell or ask
- Your first view, not a final decision. “Ask” is for anything a specialist, a relative or the executor should see first.
- Beneficiary
- Anyone the will names for this piece, or anyone who has asked for it, with the date they asked. Leave it blank if nobody has.
- Notes
- Condition, a box or a receipt that goes with it, engraving, a name on a watch dial. Later, the date and outcome of anything done with it: valued, given to, sold, returned.
What two finished rows might look like
These are invented to show the level of detail that helps. They describe no real estate and no real piece.
Two invented example rows, filled in
| No. | Item | Where found | Marks seen | Photographed | Keep, sell or ask | Beneficiary | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Yellow gold signet ring, initials engraved | Bedside drawer, in a matchbox | 375, anchor, a letter in a shield | Yes (photos 41, 42) | Ask | Grandson asked for it, 3 March | Worn, engraving clear; keep with matchbox |
| 8 | Silver-coloured cake slice | Sideboard, top drawer | EPNS | Yes (photo 43) | Keep | None | Plate, not silver |
Keep, sell or ask: making the first call
This column saves a lot of work later. It is only a first sort, not a promise, and it will change as you learn more.
- Keep is for anything the family wants, anything the will gives to someone, and anything you are not ready to decide about. Keeping is always an option.
- Ask is for anything with a maker's name, any watch with a maker's name (running or not), any gold coin or coin with a date you cannot place, medals, anything set with stones, old silver whether fully marked or not, and anything that might be ivory. What to have looked at before you sell explains why each of these deserves a second opinion.
- Sell is only for ordinary pieces nobody has asked for, once the executor says the estate is ready. Broken modern chain, odd earrings without stones and plain worn bands usually end up here; anything old or stone-set goes under Ask.
If the estate has to report the jewellery to HMRC, the sheet gives a valuer a head start: probate valuation of jewellery and silver explains what the estate needs and who provides it. If you are working through a whole house, clearing a parent's house lists the places worth searching before the rows are filled.
Risks and common mistakes with an estate list
- Starting the list after the house is cleared. The column that matters most, where it was found, cannot be filled in from memory.
- Writing a value in the notes. A figure on a family list tends to be read as a fact. Leave values to the valuation, which has its own document.
- One row for a whole box of mixed things. “Jewellery box, assorted” tells nobody anything. Group only items that are alike and clearly of little worth, such as a bag of costume beads, and give everything else its own row.
- Keeping the only copy in the house. Photograph each finished sheet and send a copy to the executor.
- Deciding “sell” for something someone has asked about. Where a name is in the beneficiary column, the answer is “ask” until the executor says otherwise.
When not to rely on this sheet alone
The sheet is a family's working record. It is not a valuation, it is not a legal inventory, and it does not settle who owns what. Use something more formal as well when any of these apply.
When the estate needs more than a list
The estate must send HMRC full details of its possessions, or may owe Inheritance Tax. A solicitor is handling the estate and keeps their own schedule. Beneficiaries disagree about who should have what. A piece may be important enough to need a written valuation. In each case, give the sheet to the professional as a starting point, and let their document be the one the estate relies on.
Questions sellers ask
Should I list costume jewellery and plate as well?
List anything someone might ask about later. A row that says “EPNS, plate, not silver” answers a question before anyone asks it. Items that are alike and clearly of little worth can share a row as a group.
Do I list coins one by one?
List anything that stands out on its own row: a gold coin, a medal, a coin in a presentation case. An ordinary tin of mixed change can be one row, with a note of the rough count and any dates that catch your eye.
Can the sheet be used as the probate valuation?
No. It records what there is. A probate valuation puts a figure on each piece at what it would have fetched on the open market on the day of death. GOV.UK says lower-value household items can be estimated, while more valuable pieces may need a professional valuer. The sheet makes that work quicker, and the two should be kept together.
What should I do with the sheet once the estate is settled?
Keep it with the estate's papers. GOV.UK says HMRC can ask to see an estate's records for up to 20 years after Inheritance Tax is paid, and a family question can come later still.
Clearing a house and found a drawer of this?
Before anything goes in a skip, photograph the odd bits. Broken chains, cufflinks, napkin rings, anything with a tiny stamp on it. A person writes back with what looks worth posting.
Nothing is sold until you say yes. Say no and everything comes back by tracked, signed-for post at our cost.
No WhatsApp? Call or text 07369 296063, 6am to 10pm, seven days a week.
Not everything is scrap
A clearance can turn up things worth more as they are than as metal. Where we see one, we tell you before any offer, so you can take it to a specialist, an auction house or a dealer instead.