Guide · 4 minute read

Estate inventory sheet for jewellery, silver, watches and coins

Written: At the Assaypost bench · checked before publication
Published: 26 September 2026

The short answer

Print this sheet and fill in one row for each piece of jewellery, silver, each watch and each coin or group of coins. Write what it is, where you found it and any marks you can see. Tick when it has been photographed. Then mark it keep, sell or ask, and name anyone who has asked for it or whom the will names. Keep the sheet with the estate's papers. It is the record an executor can point to if a question comes up later, and it makes a valuer's or a buyer's job quicker.

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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

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Printing this page prints the sheet alone, on one landscape A4 page. Print as many copies as you need and number them. Everything else on 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. It is the most useful column on the sheet.
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, whether a watch runs. 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 or let go	None	Plate, not silver

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Keep, sell or ask: making the first call

The middle column saves most of the work later. It is not a promise, only a first sort, and it will change as you learn more.

Keep anything the family wants, anything the will gives to someone, and anything you are not ready to decide about. Keeping is always allowed.
Ask for anything with a maker's name, any watch that runs, any coin with a date you cannot place, medals, old silver with a full row of marks and anything that might be ivory. What to have looked at before you sell explains why each of these deserves a second opinion.
Sell only for ordinary, marked pieces nobody has asked for, and only once the executor says the estate is ready. Broken chain, single earrings and worn bands usually end up here.

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. 'Jewellery box, assorted' tells nobody anything. Split it until each row is one thing.
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 report its possessions to HMRC in full, 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' closes a question as surely as a row for a gold ring opens one. Truly worthless items can go on a single 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 as the open market would have paid on the day of death, and it comes from a valuer or from the executor's own careful estimate. 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.

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