Posted on 05/22/2025 1:28:12 AM PDT by Jonty30
Yep. That’s the one that taught me that if I ever found any kind of gold coins I would melt them down and throw in some other trace minerals so that they didn’t have the same content fingerprint as the original coins.
Aesop!
Well, there was his first mistake.
Or, in my son's case, getting a couple of Bitcoins in the very early days for next to nothing and forgetting the password to his digital wallet.
My husband inherited some acres of farm land in southern Illinois. This land also included underground mineral rights. I had noticed a number of farms in the area with grasshopper oil pumps, but found out his land did not have oil at an economically pumpable depth. We were pleasantly surprised to receive an offer for the underground coal rights, and sold them for $1,000 an acre around the year 1990.
Later I was doing the income taxes for that year, and said “Oh, shxx, I will have to pay taxes for the money received for the coal. Then I thought some more and remembered that when my husband inherited the land, coal and other fuel were a lot more expensive. Thus we could calculate the value of the coal on the date when inherited and if it was more, subtract that figure from the amount received from the coal company. First I contacted the Dept. of Agriculture and found out the grade of coal under this land. It was subbituminous coal. Then I tracked down the depth and thickness of these layers under this land. It was three relatively thick layers, 800 feet deep. After I found the price of that coal when it was inherited and the day we were paid, I had to calculate the thickness of the layers times the square feet in the acres of land to determine the price per ton at the two relevant dates. When I subtracted the inherited price from the date of sale price, it turned out we owed the IRS nothing on the sale. In fact I was able to claim a $4,000 deduction for the loss of value between the two dates.
Got to love it when we can use those tax laws designed for the big money guys. Oh, we did use the coal money for down payment on a rental income property which has increased in value about 8 times since date of purchase. Plan to leave it to sons and grandchildren. We also used the original sale price to buy lovely mountain acres in West Virginia, and used a Starker Sale with the IRS to avoid paying capital gains tax on that sale.
Thank you President Donald Trump for The Art of the Deal I read 40 years ago.
See my comment #45 for more about land rights, governments, and taxes. Also, for once a lucky break informed by book reading.
Bkmk
The musicians on the magazine cover remind me of the opening credits of the Jeeves and Wooster TV series.
And like in Goodfellas....”Don’t Buy Anything!”
I don’t think they were planning on mining the coal at 800’. They were going to drill wells and produce the coal bed methane. The major issue is that you have to dewater the coal and dispose of the water, which is fresh.
In the People’s Demokratik Republik of Alaska no one has any mineral rights. All your dirt are belong to State.
Nothing good comes from letting it become public knowledge, for sure…
They were a coal company with activity to the east of southern Illinois, but they were buying up the coal rights all over that territory. I had the impression this was very long range planning as I am not sure how much of a market there was then for that low coal grade. Who knows what new uses there may be now, some 40 years later, or what may be invented in the future like fracking was developed by the oil industry. Oil companies were also drilling for oil at depths between 3,000 and 5,000 feet. A lot of small holders getting royalties (perhaps earning 12% per barrel price) for oil and others paid for their underground coal rights. A temporary shot of minor prosperity in a poorer area of the state. I wonder how that all worked out for them?
Great testimony!
Didn’t heed the sage advice delivered by De Niro in “Goodfellas”:
“Don’t say anything, and keep your mouth shut!”
“And….the 2025 Darwin Award goes to…”
Please! To even get nominated, one must remove themselves from future contributions to the gene pool via a stupid act.
Generally, that means one has died.
I’m guessing that he has demonstrated, in other ways, of not being that bright and has resulted in taking himself out of the gene pool.
“I’m guessing “
That is why you are not allowed to give out the awards.
People have patterns about themselves. If they are too honest, they will almost always be too honest.
Begin making gold jewelry, gold ornaments, etc. That is what to sell.
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