25% which is as it should be. I want to buy cheaper than the typical range of prior sales but I do like the occasional success However, when there is undisclosed information about a coin (provenance, rare variety etc) my success rate rises to 75% because "price ranges of past sales" are now higher due to rarity / provenance etc. This includes buying slabbed coins that have been undergraded as many modern collectors look at the grade and not at the coin. Another example of undisclosed information is when there has been a host of fakes on the market, but the coin I'm bidding on is genuine (because I know). Those who are aware of the fakes are scared to bid and those who don't know about the fakes just think the type is common. The Murcus below, mine, came originally from a 1960 Jean Vinchon sale via a more recent auction (where the provenance wasn't disclosed, I discovered by research, #DoTheWork ); the dies are of finer style than is usual for the issue but are known for over a century Many (very many) of the Murcus types sold in the last decade are modern forgeries (and of course do not have old provenances) yet have sold for much more, as fakes, than my old provenance genuine example. I paid about one third the typical going rate for a coin of this quality because by the time my coin came up for sale, the market was spooked by fakes (if you knew) and abundance (if you didn't know). In time the fakes will get weeded out and my old provenanced coin will be worth a lot more
For those of you who won in the NAC auctions, have you received your invoice yet? Won a lot in sale 124, but no email yet. Will be a week tonight, so may have to email them. Don't like to be pushy though. Just checking with others first. Thanks.
I found my invoice from NAC in my spam folder received at 2am this morning. So yes, I've received mine.
A person mentioned in this thread recently looked at a NAC catalog with me and other acquaintances. I noted an unusual denarius I was interested in. Response: " yes, but I would not go above X". So, I bid "X-10%" online, as we did not have a client relationship. I watched live and it kept going up, maybe 7 increments. And stopped at my -10%! And that advice was given to me as a courtesy. Now I will ask that person to represent me at some live auctions. It will be well worth it, I think. As to the wealth comments, 5% is 5%: "What do you tip at a coffee shop or bar?"