Specie Insurance: Cover for Our Most Valued Items

​What is specie insurance?

Specie insurance is a specialised niche within the global insurance industry. It protects high-value items, such as; jewellery, fine art, cash-in-transit, ATMs, bullion, as well as numismatic, philatelic, wine and spirit collections.
 
Specie insurance provides a comprehensive form of coverage for items whilst; on display, in storage or in transit. It provides cover for the whole supply chain; from those producing the items, to the retailers selling them and to the customers purchasing and enjoying them.

​Examples of items covered by specie insurance…

Jewellery

Jewellery includes many people’s most valuable and most cherished items. It is one of the main aspects of specie insurance and proper cover can be important to manufacturers, retailers and customers alike.

Jewellers Block covers retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and producers from small family artisan jewellers right up to multinationals.
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Insurance can cover a Jewellers; stock, shop and operations against theft, fire and other perils, as well as covering stock, buildings, glass, contents, fairs/exhibitions, transportation and travel risks. Quantum’s Jewellers block policy can also cover Processing Risk, Business Interruption, Public & Products Liability and Employee Fidelity. View our Jewellers block brochure here.
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Private Jewellery insurance covers private jewellery and watch collections, including wearing, storage and transit.
 
Quantum’s private jewellery insurance is unique as it offers worldwide territorial limits and if a client’s jewellery gets damaged or lost, they can choose to have their jewellery repaired or replaced by the same jeweller they purchased their precious items from. View our private jewellery brochure here.
 
Fun Fact: People often insure diamonds under a specie policy. As one of the most coveted substances on Earth, diamonds hold their value. The price per carat of diamonds varies due to size, clarity and colour. The largest diamond ever found was a 3,106-carot diamond christened, the "Cullinan". It weighed 1.33 pounds and was discovered in 1905 in the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa. It is said to be worth $ 400 million.

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Fine Art
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Fine art insurances can cover all forms of art; from masterpieces to fragile sculptures. Fine art coverage is often multi-faceted, not only covering fine art and fine art collections, but also those in the trade (artists, art dealers, auctioneers, restorers), the locations (museums, art galleries, exhibitions, auctions) as well as art in transit and storage. View our fine art brochure here.
 
Many people display artwork in their homes, so a popular form of specie coverage is private fine art collections. Private fine art insurance covers artwork, such as; paintings, sculptures, fragile items, antiques, silverware, porcelain and ceramics - whether at home, in storage or transit. View our private fine art collections brochure here.

Image sourced from wikipedia

Fun Fact: Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi (see image above) is the last remaining Leonardo in private hands. It was bought for $450 million at Christie's in New York, taking the crown for the most expensive artwork ever sold (I hope the owner has insurance!). Interestingly, in the 1950s the same painting was sold for only £45, as it was mistaken for a copy. ​​

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​Cash-In-Transit  

Many businesses and financial institutions have to transport large quantities of cash on a frequent basis. This risky transportation requires protection, which comes in the form cash-in-transit insurance.

Cash-in-transit insurance can provide cover for the item, whether its cash, coin, bullion or diamonds, the vehicle, whether armoured or soft skin and other factors, such as; armed and unarmed pavement risk, overt or covert transits, cash on premises and employee fidelity. View our cash-in-transit brochure here.

​Fun Fact:  In recent years, considerably higher numbers of CIT armed robbery incidents in Australia were recorded, signifying a possible shift in offending patterns. This is evident in the mean number of robberies committed annually. From 1989 to 2006, there was an average of only 3.56 CIT armed robberies annually, compared with 18 incidents in 2007 and 11 incidents in 2008. 
Stats sourced from Australian Institute of Criminology

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​ATMs 

ATM operations and storage insurance can include the protection of permanent, temporary and mobile ATMs, as well as ATMs for special events and ATM machines. It can also protect ATMs in storage, or in transit. View our ATM brochure here.

Fun Fact: A new trend in ATM theft is stealing an entire ATM machine. This form of theft is on the rise as more organisation are utilising free-standing, temporary or mobile ATMs.

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Bullion 

​Bullion refers to the purified form of any precious metal. Bullion is often produced in bars, large coins or rounds. Bullion insurance protects bullion throughout its journey; from refinery and production, to wholesale and retail. It also offers coverage to those dealing in or collecting bullion.

Bullion bars are often very valuable, and therefore require high-security transit and vault storage. Luckily, specie insurance covers the transit, shipment and vault storage of bullion. View our Bullion brochure here.
 
Fun Fact: a gold bullion bar is at least 99% pure, can weigh a staggering 400 troy ounces and at the current price of gold would be worth more than $500,000.

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Numismatic & Philatelic Collections

Numismatic and philatelic collections insurance spans rare collections and memorabilia, such as; coins, stamps, bank notes and associated moulds. Rare coins and currency can be worth millions and are extremely popular among collectors and many organisations across the globe.

View our numismatic and philatelic collections brochure here.
 
Fun Fact: The highest valued coin is known as the ‘The Flowing Hair Silver/ Copper Dollar’, which was the first dollar ever issued by the US Federal Government in 1974. The coin was sold for $10 million in January 2013. It is made of 90 percent silver and 10% copper. When the coin was minted, it was the first issued after the Federal Mint was founded. 
Sourced from Money Inc

As one of the largest independent specialist Jewellery, Fine Art and Specie Underwriting Agencies in the Southern Hemisphere, Quantum can provide you with the best specie insurance products and services available. Our underwriters have the skill and expertise to individually tailor policies to your specific needs and provide the most comprehensive cover at a competitive price.