Given $2,000 what would you buy?

Thats easy a 2006 W Golden Buffalo NGC or PCGS Proof 70 of course.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

That would get you a nice AU Classic Head Quarter or Half Eagle.

 

Well I went last night to a rather large general merchandise auction.
After an hour of sitting through tools, collector plates and Lucy & Desi
collectibles they started the coins. But I came home with nothing due to a flock of high bidders. They were paying $4 each for presidential dollar coins, $3.50 each for the new 2009 Lincoln cents, $5 a roll for common circulated wheat cents from the 1950's. The cheapest common date VF Morgan was bid up to $22 and a 1923 Peace dollar in XF was sold for $26.00
Proof sets were selling for $15 or more, beat up common date Barber quarters were $6 to $7.00. Some of the raw AU Morgans were started at asking prices of up to $200. Many sold at $60 to $75. The auctioneer was calling every coin "rare".
I never will understand why people pay so much for common circulated coins. Take for example a 1875 dime in AG-3. The auctioneer starts with saying "Who bids $30 on this dime"? No response. "Who will give $20 for it"?
No interest. "Now $15 at the bottom" Three hands go up.
"20, now $25, $30, $32, $34" "Thirty six"? No response. "36"? "36"?
Sold for $34. But add 10 percent. It went on and on like this.
Nobody will open the bidding at the suggested price. But when all is said and done the final bid is over the suggested opening price.
After waiting through more collector plates I left.
I think "general" auctions are worse than "coin auctions". The people at the general auctions bid stupid money for common junk. This the 2nd time I went to this auction. Both times I couldn't touch anything due to excessive high bids on everything.

 

Great info, thanks. I just recently heard of auctionzip.com and was considering attending 1 or 2 of these. Not that I won't now, but I'll be better prepared for what to expect.