Overall I'm happy with my results at CNG E-Auction 483 . Only 11 coins & medals of 103 failed to sell. All the Roman coins sold, & many of the modern coins did surprisingly well. I'll post 10 of the lots by lot number with a brief description. For more detail just follow the lot number on CNG's website. All prices I'm quoting are hammer prices only, an 18% buyers fee will be added to all winning bids. Lot 93. Sicily, Syracuse. Hieron II, 275-215 BC, AE Dilitron: 27 mm, 17.49 gm, 8 h. $300.00. Lot 373. Roman Republican Serrate denarius. Anonymous, 209-208 BC, 18.5 mm, 4.19 gm, 11 h. Mint in Sicily. $350.00. Lot 375. Sex. Pompeius Fostlus. 137 BC, AR Denarius: 18 mm, 3.92 gm, 6 h. Crawford 235/1c. $350.00. Lot 390. The Triumvars. Mark Antony & Octavian. Spring-early summer 41 BC. AR Denarius: 19 mm, 3.90 gm, 12 h. Ephesus Mint. $1,300.00. Lot 419. Vespasian. AD 69-79, AR Denarius: 17 mm, 3.32 gm, 6 h. Judaea Capta issue. Rome Mint. $750.00. Lot 351. Egypt, Alexandria. Nero, AD 54-68. Billon Tetradrachm: 24.5 mm, 13.03 gm, 1 h. Contemporary imitation. Dated Year 13 (AD 66/67). Very Rare. CT member Ocat was the 1st person to attribute this coin . $550.00. Lot 528. Valens. AD 364-378, AR Siliqua: 18 mm, 1.87 gm, 12 h. Lyon Mint. Ex 1887 East Harptree, Somerset Hoard. $300.00. Lot 575. China, Ming Dynasty. Sun Kewang Rebel issue, AD 1648-1657. AE 10 Cash: 46 mm, 21.76 gm, 12 h. $275.00. Lot 677. U.S.A. Harvard University, Hasty Pudding Club. AR Medal: 39 mm, 23.94 gm, 12 h. Dated 1795, however, these were struck at later dates up to 1905. The reverse inscription "CONCORDIA DISCORS" translates Inharmonious Harmony . $225.00. Lot 623. Germany, late 1914. AE Cast Medal: 63 mm, 70.33 gm. "The Bomb" by Ludwig Geis. Group of advancing pikemen impacted by an exploding bomb. "The scene of medieval pikemen being killed by an exploding bomb can be taken as an allegory for the modern machine warfare of 1914." $350.00.
John, I've been a coin collector, & at one time a dealer for many years. Now that I'm getting up there in years I decided to narrow my collecting focus to Roman provincial Tets, Diocletian era folles & coins that have a personal appeal to me. A lot of material I don't look at anymore that has been stored in safe deposit boxes is being liquidated. Over the last 10 years I've also liquidated a large collection of Chinese & Pre Columbian jade. Like the old saying goes "you can't take it with you". Some collectors find it difficult to part with anything, that's never been a problem for me .
Nice hammer prices. I have a few questions about consignment... Would you be willing to share your experiences consigning with CNG? What is their seller’s premium %? Is it fixed or variable? Did(Do) you submit photographs of your coins for approval prior to sending them in? It would seem that for their regular e-auctions; they have a protocol of primarily dealing with coins that would estimate for a minimum of $50 — w/ the understanding that many coins hammer for higher — Do they allow you(as the consignor) to sign off/agree to their estimate(starting price)? When coins fail to sell...Do they give you the option to offer them again at a later sale, or do they immediately remit them back to you? What carrier do you use to ship your coins, and how is insurance handled?
We weren't the first to own our coins and we won't be the last. There will come a day for us all where we send our coins back out into the wild for someone else to enjoy
Herodotos, I don't have the contract in front of me but can say this, like all major auction houses, if the consignment is large enough the contract is negotiable. If you ship to them you can do so at a reduced rate they have with FedEx. My consignment was large & included objects other than coins, so they agreed to drive to my condo & pick up the consignment. Lancaster, PA isn't that far from Churchville, NY. Before they showed any interest I emailed them quality photos of what I wanted to liquidate. I let them set the estimates (which are usually very low) & starting price. I'm pretty sure if a lot doesn't sell they will try listing it again at a lower estimate, or list it in a group lot. If the coins aren't that valuable to list singly it's better to list them in a group. I did this with a group of 7 modern Mexican proof coins. I also did this with 3 trade coins that had Chinese chop marks, see photo below of lot 887. This lot had an estimate of $200.00 & sold for $700.00 .
Were any of the other Roman Imperial lots yours? I had too much going on to focus on that auction even after having parsed through it and having marked a few targets. I almost walked away with a King Edward Penny that ended up blowing through the price I'd pay even for an impulse purchase. But did however manage to wave in a rough, yet rare, Commodus Sestertius.
As I get older the idea of better focusing my collection has a lot of appeal. I also like the idea that future collectors will enjoy and care for my coins when I have moved onwards... John
I find it healthy to sell coins periodically. It offers an opportunity to refine your tastes and trim out pieces that don't quite fit as well as to make space for new coins (reducing the net-new cash outlay). It's also a good checkpoint to let you know if you're consistently overpaying for coins or if you're buying well. I'm looking forward to seeing your next additions!
CNG sent me a letter seeing if I was interested in selling my collection, offering either an appraisal via Fed ex shipment or a face to face meeting. I am in the SF Bay Area. I may consider this in coming decades as I get older and also depending on whether my future heirs are interested in the collection or would rather have the cash along with the other inherited assets of my estate. Pruning once in awhile also is probably a good idea.
Shogun, I had 25 Roman coins in the auction. Pictured below are a few more lots I had in the auction. Lot 333. Antioch-Syria, Claudius, AD 41-54, AE As: 25 mm, 18.43 gm, 12 h. Ex Richard McAlee Collection. $250.00 Lot 378. Roman Republic, Q. Lutatius Cerco, 109-108 BC. AR Denarius: 19 mm, 3.96 gm, 3 h. $180.00 Lot 466. Lucilla, AD 164-182, AR Denarius: 17.5 mm, 12 h. $190.00 Lot 468. Commodus, AD 177-192, AR Denarius: 16.5 mm, 11 h. $150.00 Lot 470. Caracalla, AD 198-217, AR Denarius: 18 mm, 3.33 gm, 12 h. This handsome coin was a bargain for some lucky collector . $110.00 Lot 474. Julia Soaemias, AD 218-222, AR Denarius: 18.5 mm, 2.59 gm, 5 h. $275.00 Lot 807. Luristan Bronze Dagger, circa 1,200-900 BC, 33.5 cm long, with original patina & some earthen deposits. $650.00 Byzantine Bronze Enkolpion (reliquary cross pendant). 9th-11th cen., 11.8 cm long. $700.00
I applaud this approach, which I've been doing a lot myself lately. Except for a few coins I subsequently found hidden in my seat cushions, I sold my Roman Imperial collection via CNG last summer. I still have some Greek and Alexandrian coins that I'm considering selling. I'm entirely focused on Roman Republican coins now. Also, I think it's a good for a knowledgeable collector to sell his/her coins rather than to burden his/her heirs with that job. I hope to sell whatever remains of my collection and library while I'm alive.
I’m curious Al, did CNG note these as from your collection? I looked at the auction before it closed and didn’t see anything noted as “Al Kowsky” collection or similar.
Curtis, I've never used my name as a provenance at any auction house. I'm sure it wouldn't matter to most people .
Okay, that makes sense now why I couldn’t find your coins in the sale. I don’t know if most people feel the same way but I always appreciate when a collector includes a name or a collection name when selling a large part of a collection. In fact I have a little sub-collection of coins I’ve bought that used to belong in the collection of other collectors I’ve interacted with. I think it adds something to owning the coin. I struck out at the most recent CNG but I probably would have bid on a few more that I knew were from your collection.
I have always been satisfied with my dealings with CNG although I haven’t consigned any coins to their Auctions for several years - following are the results from my last consignment to them (about fifty or so London Mint reduced folles): https://www.cngcoins.com/Search.aspx?PAGE_NUM=&PAGE=1&TABS_TYPE=2&CONTAINER_cTYPE_ID=2&VIEW_TYPE=1&IS_ADVANCED=1&ITEM_DESC=James+pickering&ITEM_IS_SOLD=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_3=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_2=1 I packaged up my coin consignments and sent them, USPS insured, and left it up to the CNG staff to evaluate, describe, photograph and price each coin, I believe they still do all that, although I am not sure. I didn’t have any message interchanges with CNG to discuss or sign off on the pricing they assigned - I just accepted their assessments (they had top notch appraisers). I requested that they use their judgement to make up groupings of unsold coins, assign prices and include them elsewhere. I asked for the inclusion of: “From the James Pickering collection” on each listing. I never ended up with unsold coins and was always satisfied with the prices realized. Overall, I found CNG to be a very professional, high class, enterprise with which to do business. CAVEAT: My memory is very poor now and so please make allowances for that when reading the above.
Greetings Curtis! When I consigned coins to CNG for auction I always asked them to include “From the James Pickering collection” on each listing - I established quite a few contacts and made several new coin friends that way.
Al/Congratulations on your successfull auction I have never sold any of my coins/ they are all keepers. But I did give up my Canadian/ US obsolete banknotes too Heritage Auctions/ turned that ca$h into some really nice new coins John
Congratulations on a successful auction! I was really delighted to (I believe) have gotten (at least!) two of your consigned coins: 357: The Antoninus Pius Alexandrian Griffin Drachm that was ex-Morris/Peck, Heritage; ex-Kerry Wetterstom, CNA; ex-Ruzicka (Malter)... I forget if Heritage had noted any others. I think CNG (or you?) tracked down at least one extra link there. 408: The Claudius (imitative?) NCAPR-countermark Sestertius from Richard Baker's collection. I got them in large part because of the pedigree (I have small countermark and Alexandria sub-collections as well), if I'm not mistaken that you posted about those two coins before, I just wanted to check if it's accurate/okay with you to record you as the consignor in my pedigree notes.
Just realized a different Curtis asked this question as well, ha ha. (Maybe I'd better try to add initials to my username to avoid confusion.) It does matter to me, at least, for a few reasons (partly just documenting continuity of ownership)... If two people named Curtis mention it... I kind of assumed since you mentioned them publicly it's okay with you, but figured I'd be careful and double-check.
