Ever regret not to have bought a coin?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by panzerman, Dec 6, 2018.

  1. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I certainly made that mistake. About 6 years ago, I scrolled the Baldwins unsold lots and saw a mint state AV 5 Guineas 1794 William and Mary. The price was at that time 12K UK Pounds= 17K Can. Dollars. I did not have the $, was tempted to take a loan from my bank, pay it back later in year. Well, that same coin sold recently for 117K US....made a BIG mistake.
     
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  3. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    That's only a $100K mistake. ONLY!
     
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  4. TyCobb

    TyCobb A product of PMD

    Regret all you want, but you still made the right choice by not taking out a loan for it. I don't care how much it was worth; still the right decision :D
     
  5. Plumbata

    Plumbata Well-Known Member

    Wow, my regrettable coin misses seem quite pedestrian compared to that. Guess I can't complain, lol.

    I do regret not listening to my brother when Bitcoin was at 4 bucks and he told me I should buy-in because it was going to go through the roof. He's always had a superb instinct for stocks and other investments.
     
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  6. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    That's like wishing you'd bought Apple stock way back when except the subsequent exorbitant price of that coin was completely unforeseeable whereas with Apple stock there was a more realistic chance at making money.

    Also, does the recent sales price really matter to you? From what I recall about your previous posts, you're not in this strictly for profit-- you love the coins.

    Hindsight is always 20:20. We do what we can do at the time.
     
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  7. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I was not concerned about the "profit", but rather....that I always wanted a AV 5 Guineas, but now they are out of reach:( I am one who would rather have coin prices at a stable price range, unfortunately, it seems prices are going to the moon, with no end in sight. Seems coin collecting is gaining popularity around the World.
     
  8. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    It sure seems that way to me too, at least for the coins I collect :(.

    Pretty soon I'm going to start sounding like @dougsmit :eek::D.
     
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  9. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    This is the question we have to ask. You will realize all that profit only if you sell the coins so if you are in it for the coins and not the profit, it makes no difference if they go up or down.
    I don't think so. What is gaining popularity is using coins to hide money. If the fad fades and gold drops, we will find out who loves their coins and who jumps off tall buildings. If the price returns to 2012 levels, will you mourn or buy more?
     
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  10. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Seems that the "only" coins that prices have been stable or even gone down over past decade are US coins.
     
  11. Eduard

    Eduard Supporter**

    Wiser word have never been spoken!

    No use agonising about what may have been if I only had....

    - had a colonoscopy just one year before I decided to do it....
    - taken at Job at the EU in Brussels when it was offered to me...
    - bought that exceedingly rare coin back in 1991 at the now ridiculous price of $1400.
    - etc, etc, etc
     
  12. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I would agree partially. Also, I would love to see prices drop to levels seen during the "Farouk sale":) in 1954.
    I think there are three things behind the crazy prices in real estate/ art/ stamps/ coins/ baseball cards/ classic cars/ militaria all collectibles....even butterflies/ moths/ beetles!
    1/ the living standard has risen in much of the World/ hence more disposible income for leisure/ hobbies...
    2/ ever since 1933 many Countries went away from precious metal money to paper currency , which is only worth the paper its printed on/ look at Zimbabwe/ Weimar Germany/ Austria/ Hungary with hyper inflation. In 1712 Great Britain, when the treasury had no more gold/ silver....Queen Anne, sent out pirates/ Royal navy to plunder Spanish gold/ silver ships:inpain: and thus coin more Guineas.
    3/ has Doug stated, many in the Drug Cartels/ Russian Billionaires/ Saudi Princes have unlimited wealth and "good taste"....so have many hobbies.
    John
     
  13. Cheech9712

    Cheech9712 Every thing is a guess

    Yeah thats a killer
     
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  14. AncientJoe

    AncientJoe Well-Known Member

    Is it the exact same coin or a coin of the same type? Do you happen to have a link to the auction?
     
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  15. Mike Thorne

    Mike Thorne Well-Known Member

    I've been fooling with coins in one way or another for something like 60 years so I have a lot of regrets about purchases I missed. Of course, I've written about all of them (catharsis?) in my coin articles. At 12c per word, I've probably made up for any money I lost. Still, I wish I had bought the coins.
     
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  16. TypeCoin971793

    TypeCoin971793 Just a random guy on the internet

    If I could buy it and chose not to for whatever reason, then I would be kicking myself. If I couldn’t buy it for whatever reason, then I would be okay with having let it go.
     
  17. IdesOfMarch01

    IdesOfMarch01 Well-Known Member

    You might want to regard that auction result with a bit of skepticism and temperance. Consider the following coin:

    image.png

    Sold at Triton XIV in 2011 for $70,000
    Sold at NAC 94 in 2016 for $61,000
    Sold at Triton XXI in 2018 for $47,500

    If two bidders get carried away about a coin, the hammer price can be unrealistically higher than actual market value.

    Another story: when I first started collecting ancients, I saw a high-quality Roman Republican quadrigatus at an auction with an estimate around $3K, if I recall correctly. My max bid of $5K failed as the coin went for around $6.5K. A year or so later, having been touted as the finest quadrigatus of its type, two collectors apparently went crazy and the coin sold for around $250K! I think it's highly doubtful that the winning bidder could ever sell it for that price, although he/she can console him/herself that they own the "finest" quadrigatus in existence.
     
  18. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Yes, I have even seen that happen with many coins. Its kinda funny, I thought I was immune to that sort of thing. But, it happened to me too, back in 2015. I had a particular AV Quarter Noble from Henry VI (Elder Collection) as , "my coin". Upto live event, I had top bid of 1200US/ estimate was 1500US. So, I am outbid, my reaction bid again! By the time I came back to earth, I realized I had won the coin for 4500US/ triple estimate:inpain: I did not sleep well that night. Now, I have to admit I love this little gem. I can see it if a AV FDC aureus from Quintillus/ Balbinus/ Pupeinus was up for auction, and I had the financial resources of Trump, heck I would go to a million. That coin may never come up again. And man, I would admire it every day.......
     
  19. Sulla80

    Sulla80 Well-Known Member

    If you happen to know the two, I am now accepting offers...
    quadrigatus.jpg
    not sure where it ranks in "finest" index.

    Anonymous Roman Republic Circa 225-214 BC. AR Didrachm – Quadrigatus Obv: Laureate head of Janus; curved truncation
    Rev: Jupiter, hurling thunderbolt with right hand and holding scepter in left, in quadriga right driven by Victory; in exergue, ROMA incuse on solid tablet
     
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2018
  20. ab initio

    ab initio Well-Known Member

    It is a long story…

    It starts in Zurich in the early 80’s where I visit a well-known firm of ancient coin dealers and auctioneers. They show me a coin of my collecting areas from a recently discovered hoard in the Levant. It is a unique, unpublished didrachm of a mint that I collect meticulously. The asking price is unrealistically high and to twist the knife in the wound they ask me to throw in the deal a complete set of the JIAN, beautifully bound in half French Morocco, that they know is a duplicate in my library. How can I refuse?

    My next stop is Paris. I visit a well-known American dealer residing there who later became famous over an antiquity controversy. He produces out of his desk drawer the “Big Brother” of the coin that I just bought. It is the (huge, spread flan) unique tetradrachm of the same series and he is asking three times the price of the smaller coin. I do not have the cash readily available as my money is tied up in investment funds so I say “no thank you”. He looks surprised and we part amicably. A few years later, over a bottle of good French wine (he always called the wine served at coin shows “horse piss”) he asked me why, and when I told him he said I was a fool, he would give me all the time I wanted to pay. The coin has appeared at auction twice since that time and now resides in a Bank collection.
     
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