Buying lots in auctions

I think it's worth reiterating what Doug said about there being lots and lots. Here's a picture representing of a lot of 184 Republican coins (but not with all pictured) that sold in 2009.



It went for $28,000 before fees. In the detailed list of all the coins were 17 Dioscuri reverses. Still, a remarkable lot and IMHO a bargain.

 

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LOL......I don't hate them, I love them and have several of my own at this time, including the one you posted.

I think Zumbly meant you often discover numerous Roma/Chariot types of lower grade which tends to get a bit tedious and of questionable desirability----although I have no problem with someone who may wish to start a 'sub-series' by grade, moneyer or epoch.

I think we all prefer numerous examples of our coins and only seem to be a 'one per' collector due to obvious budget constraints and that vast selection of irresistibly available ancients that we all crave to own----we just can't own them all.


WOW!! Zumbly just posted that lot and what can be seen is a varied and wonderful selection. But $28,000 is way, way out of my league LOL

But that does seem a great price and a fantastic bargain.....

 

Honestly, lots are just a crap shoot for most people. Most are bought by dealers who can handle the large numbers of coins. Those who typically do the best with lots are those who can view them in person and get a better idea of what it in the lot.

 

Zumbly's lot works out to $200 a coin give or take after fluff is added. The picture shows no coin not worth $200. The fact that there was a detailed list even took away the surprise of the Social War denarius. The detailed list, however does show that the photo was not representative and there were many lesser coins included. It still was a reasonable price. The lot was first of three offering the collection. The second was bronzes and nice by my standards while the last was imitations and fourrees which went for more that I would expect. Triton XII had a lot of large lots and would be a interesting place to play the game where you try to figure why one lot went high and the next low. Maybe I'd be better off if I spent more time playing that game and less buying coins guaranteed to go low.

 

Selling coins of that quality in a group lot probably was a disservice to the consignor. I bought a coin that was sold not too long ago from the AK Collection which seems to get sold in lots.

 

This depends on the size and scope of the collection, overall quality, etc. The BCD collection was so massive in its scope there had to be many huge lots together. The RBW collection of Republican is still being sold off in lots. One also has to consider how much the market can absorb at one time and not depress values.

 

I know nothing of this particular case but I recall a collection that was willed to children in a great hurry to have their cash. Selling a large group of coins singly for the best realization for each could take years. This lot could be paid in months. Sometimes at shows we see grandpa's collection dumped for what they can get that hour. There are too many considerations to be addressed to know for sure that a mistake was made and who made it.

If you took that bag of coins to a show of some size and asked for immediate cash pay offers, what would you expect (other than a visit from the Police?)? $28000 next month might be $50000 next year or $10000 today. Fair?

 

Personally and modestly I don't like to buy lots because the sellers often ask for immediate cash. It's like gambling in a way. I rather prefer to pick up the nice ones and pay safely, though more expensive. And most of all, I pay by installments. It
's also a matter of budget and personal financials.

 

That was the first part of the AK Collection. It was really very nice, with pedigrees going back to Haeberlin. I bought that for HJB stock, at nowhere near our limit.

Phil Davis

 

My only group-lot was this lovely group of four A-Pius Alexandrian Drachms ...



$600 (delivered) ...

yah, it was a sweet day when I logged onto that Triskeles Auction site ... I swept my hair back over my eyes, took a deep breath and slowly, but decisively squeezed the trigger ...

*BLAM* => kill-shot

... oh, sorry to bring-up old memories, TIF (yup, the Coin Princess was nice enough to recognize my auction-handle, so she didn't bid against me!! => man, I love her)

 

I regret that kindness . At the time I wasn't quite as committed to collecting Roman Egyptian coins. That A-Pi Taurus really belongs with me since my birthday is in May. Lemme give you my address...

Man, looking at all four again I'm floored. What a great lot! I want all of them.

 

*awkward*

=> please quit hittin' on me!!

 

Quite a few ex Haeberlin, and some very excellent ones to boot! I'm glad the winner of that lot owned up so those of us thinking to dabble with such lots know who we may be going up against and perhaps reconsider playing that game altogether. Not me at any rate, I like the coins but a quick check reveals that my pants don't have pockets that deep .

 

For what it's worth, Harlan and I agreed I would bid up to $40,000 + juice, and in fact I would've pushed past that if need be. I kept two coins as a sort of finder's fee: the Narbo serrate coin at the top right and the ex-Haeberlin piece immediately below it. That was fair, and Harlan agreed, because he knew he wouldn't have noticed the lot on his own. Harlan quite wisely (lol!) follows my advice on RR, but if he had balked, I would've bought the whole lot myself just to get the Narbo coin. I would've sold most of it, but certainly kept more than two coins in that case.

 

The people who attend an auction can look at both sides of all the coins in a large lot. If the firm does not picture both sides of all coins (and most don't, even though they could easily take one big photo of all the obverses and one of all the reverses) you cannot know how much the lot is worth to you. Since you cannot value the unseen part of the group the way the on-site bidders can, they usually win, and if they don't, you probably paid too much.

 

A few tips on buying large lots:

- try to go for the lots that originate from collections, rather than from finders or other dealers. They'll usually have more variety and be a bit smaller, but the coins will tend to be of a more average quality, rather than very nice or very bad.
- Most group lots in online auctions are for coins that couldn't make the cut for a single lot. If the minimum lot value is $100, look for the lot of two $50 coins, rather than the lot of twenty $5
- If anything is advertised as uncleaned, just don't bother. Only buy them for the pure mechanical joy of picking off dirt
- If at all possible, VIEW THE LOTS PRIOR TO BIDDING!

 

Good advice Ard

 

There's another installment of the AK Collection in the next Triton: http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=300612

 

That looks like a really awesome lot. If my money wasn't diverted to other interests, I'd probably bid for it.