I use a snipe app to help with my eBay purchases when I am unable to bid manually. Normally I have no issues with it, however, yesterday I did. When I checked my eBay wins and saw that a coin I had placed a snipe bid on was not in my wins column and had gone for significantly less than my high bid, I was baffled. Then it hit me, I had changed my eBay password and had not relinked it with my snipe app. Win some, lose some. At any rate, this is the snipe that got away. I just hope it went to someone who knows what they won! Of course, the seller misattributed it. Domitian AR Denarius Rome mint, RIC 675 (R2). Maybe I should use a snipe call from now on.
Naw ... oh well, there's plenty more coins in the sea. Actually a good way to get a bargain on eBay is bidding on misattributed coins. I used to do a daily search for "unknown" and "unidentified" in the coins category. I once bought a reasonably nice William III crown for $40, which the seller sold as "unidentified GVGLIELMVS". I have also bought cheap George III cartwheel two-pences misattributed as the less valuable cartwheel pennies (it certainly pays to ask the seller for the coin's weight and diameter). Nowadays, eBay is inundated with junk, and i don't have the time or patience to trawl through it all. But it was really good once.
While I wish you well on this hope, the fact remains that to 99% of ancient collectors, rarities created by an unusual combination of dating devices mean nothing. I'd have to look it up to know what the difference is between that coin and a common one like mine. I believe more people will notice differences like adding an owl or aegis than a date numeral. Within our specialties, we see these things differently than most folks. I joined eBay before their stock went public. I bought more coins back then --- the good old days. Not charging sellers for not selling coins led to what we have now.
Exactly my thoughts. I am sure there are bargains to be had on eBay, but it's too much work finding them now. Quality generally has deteriorated now that there's no financial barrier to selling, and everyone can be a "dealer". When i use eBay for coins, I only review the listings of a handful of "trusted" dealers.
Since getting into ancients in 2009, some of my best coins I got were pretty big bargains. Many are still out here.
Unfortunately, you're probably right. The winner likely purchased it just to tick a Domitian Minerva off their want list, not knowing it has a rare combination of dates and numbered titles. Someday maybe they will tire of it and sell it on eBay.
I often skip US eBay and search just the German version, which is easy to do with the app. Far less junk appears in the general German Greek eBay section, anyway. That’s the only one I browse. Occasionally I’ll do keyword searches but rarely do I find anything of interest.
I imagine this sort of thing must be a common frustration to specialists such as yourself. Fortunately for me, I have evolved (or perhaps devolved) from being another "tick another emperor off the list" collector into being an "Ooh, purdy! Me wants it!" sort. My Preciousss! My Birthday Present ... gives it to usss now! Takes that nasssty torchlight away! Or you could say I've become a magpie, to use another metaphor. With all the scholarly depth that being a bird implies.
I’m of the same ilk. I’m interested in the most attractive portraits possible of each of the rulers of Rome. I’m not particularly interested in minor variations on otherwise common coins that make them technically “rare”. I couldn’t give a hoot about officina numbers. I do care about the history though, and the stories of the men and women on the coins.
