Just got home from snow... Nope! I had my eye on three lots. Number one a EF AV Tremissis of Egica & Witiza Visgoth Kings in Spain went for 2000 UK Pounds (my bid 1400) then my second lot FDC AV solidus Justinian I (won 700) next lot AV Genovino 1378-1388 Doge VII went for double of my bid. All the material went HIGH! Problem for me, we had 20 cm. of snow, so I had to clear snow from 45 clients drivewys....missed actual live bidding.
I would have love to have that coin, the electrum is 60AV/40AR. Being cash poor I can only go after the tiny EL Hecktes/Hemihektes..the EL Staters are outa my league. They sure had neat images for their coins.
Well, it's part your fault....but I did win an affordable El Hekte at the last Agora auction....so you will have to stay with us during your busy work season if you want to see it
This auction was nuts! Way too much ask for almost all of them. I bailed early. Nice catalogue though!
Too many people on this planet have too much $$$$$ I, at first had a good bid on the mint state "Flying Pig"/Lion EL hekte. Someone bid way over estimate. Even that Nicephorus II mint state Solidus went triple estimate. Scary, that EL hekte I posted, "Female head" I got from ROMA 2 years ago for 500, today same coin went for 1200!
No, that was in Roma Auction 7. Today, I got only one out of three. The one I got was a AV Solidus Emperor Justinian I circa 527-38AD Constantinople Mint. The coin was FDC quality/had emperor facing 3/4 with spear, rather then more common frontal bust. The one...I really wanted went crazy in bidding. (AV Tremissis Visgoths Egica & Wittiza Sevilla Mint....)
I was also lusting after "dolphinman", TIF. No wins for me today, but one very close call. This one, which you may recognize from an earlier thread, went for 4% over my maximum bid:
Drat! That's a beauty. Although there were many overvalued and unsold coins today, there were also many which were highly desirable and brought big prices. On the bright side, there are always more auctions. CNG 102 posts tomorrow
I have learned valuable lessons over past 25 years when it comes to auctions/prices realized/bidding/etc. First off, if an auction house specializes in ancients, likely the prices realized will be on higher spectrum. On the otherhand, if the auction house specializes in European coinage, but have a small section of ancient....likely you will find a better deal. Again, one must have the condition that the coins are equally graded/photographed. So that if auction A has a mint state AV Stater from Alexander III Babylon Mint/ auction B has same coin exactly...final realized prices could be very different. I have noted, when there is bidding war between a floor bidder/ and internet bidder with deep pockets....in one case a AV Aureus Anthony/Octavian in EF went for 180,000 UK Pounds/ estimate was 45K.
Here's lot 290 from today's Roma auction, which went for 4.4 times estimate (GBP 44,000 = $73,500; estimate = GBP 10,000): Phaistos, Crete, AR stater
I only bid on 2 coins today and was the under bidder on both. Nothing too exciting or pricey so c'est la vie! I think I've got a good idea of a few that Alegandron won and let's just say he cleaned up on some early Romans. Looking forward to the pictures big A!
yeah, I was happy. Filled a few of my coveted and core targets. I may wait til they are in hand to post...
Hey Alegandalf => congrats on scoring that sweet coin that I PM'd you about beforehand (very cool addition ... yummy-yummy)
Bummer...lost at last second on that one! That was on CNG... Twas'nt Clio'd, tho! I really appreciated the step-aside, as I really wanted it! Since I LOST that one, I had a backup go-to, and got one very similar! It is en route! (lower price too!)