The bidding started at $1 for this electrum puppy and it looked like it was going to sell for something like $300 or $400. It ended at $1,150 which was far beyond my max bid.
Sorry to hear that, Collect89. Since this thread has been bumped, I've acquired an extremely rare Qatabanian imitative owl. Southern Arabia, Qataban AR Hemidrachm, 11mm, 1.98g, 11h; Timna: 350-320/00 BC. Obv.: Head of Athena right, Γ on cheek, wearing earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor. Rev.: Owl standing right, head facing; [olive sprig] and crescent behind, Royal Qatabanian monogram, composed of South Arabian letters h and l, and ÅQE to right. Reference: Munro-Hay p. 71, 1.0aii, pl. 48, 30-32; HGC 10, 711.
and the seller bought it for around $220 + fees about 1 month ago. http://romanumismatics.com/auction/lot/0275/
Similarly, this Amastris stater sold for 7000 CHF last week and is now offered on Vcoins for $21,750! I hope it doesn't sell.
I'm not so sure we are seeing the big picture here. That is a coin that would expect to bring over the 7000 realization. Compare: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/stater-of-amastris-with-head-of-mithras-1502 If the Boston MFA paid $22k for theirs which is a low grade 'dog' in comparison, someone (I do not know nor care who bought it) could see a strong possibility that this really nice one would be worth more. Now buying something at that price and trying to resell it for a respectable 30% profit strikes me as a good way to go broke so starting high and leaving room for negotiating seems like a good way to be able to wholesale it to a dealer who has a buyer possibly willing to pay a good percentage of the number leaving room for all concerned to be pleased with the situation. The only questions I see remaining is why the museum paid so much for their coin and why some collector who buys coins in that bracket did not bid it up. Is this a $21k coin? It has better claim on that ballpark than some.