[raulus]

I have insurance. Originally through my homeowner's policy, and then when they declined to raise the coverage, through CIS.

Never filed for a claim. Hopefully my streak continues. Insurance is one of those things that you buy and hope you never have to use it, yet you definitely want it in case of catastrophe. My wife always complains that we spend a whole lot on health insurance, yet never use it. I'm just grateful to be healthy. Hopefully she doesn't start wondering about all the money we're spending on my life insurance.

But getting back to the question at hand...Obviously there's no policy that will cover the emotional damage associated with losing your collection.

My advice is to insure the collection when losing it would be seriously financially damaging to you. That line is different for all of us because our financial situations are different. While I don't know your financial situation, it might be a little early to spend the cash on insurance. Myself, I would probably be inclined to invest that into more cards. Although as you note, at just $5+ per month, it sure seems pretty reasonable.

In addition to the financial aspects of being covered, part of my decision to get coverage is also emotional. While I certainly have an extreme attachment to my collection, I also don't want some thief to take all of the upside appreciation that my cards have experienced since I bought them. That would just add insult to injury and further aggravate me. I'm also hopeful that the insurance company would be motivated to spend some resources to track down the thief and help to recover my collection before it ends up in the wind.

I am also a big believer in a decent deductible to keep the cost down. My view is that I'm unlikely to lose just a few things. A fire or a thief is going to take pretty much everything. As such, my policy isn't there to cover a minor incident, although those could be painful as well. Instead, I have insurance to cover a potential total loss.