Athena Numismatics- communication.

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by JayAg47, Jul 26, 2021.

  1. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

    I'm trying to get an offer for a coin from them on Vcoins, not once but twice, but both times I haven't got any responses. I also did not spam them every other day, but asked them once last week and a month before that!!
    And no I did not low balled them, in fact i simply asked them what would be your best offer.
    I'm not sure if they are purposefully avoiding my requests because I asked for an offer, at least they could send me an email denying it!
    Also this is my first time dealing with them, so doubt I have any past history that could affect current dealing.
    So if anyone here ever dealt with them, can you clear if they are actually not that responsive?
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2021
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  3. Ed Snible

    Ed Snible Well-Known Member

    I don't know; but last week was Eid al-Adha.
     
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  4. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    I've not dealt with them but it seems like they don't want to deal with you.
    That right there would make me look elsewhere. They don't seem to want your business.
     
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  5. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    I dealt with him in the past without any problems. By the way the owner is a member here on CT (but not active since 2017...). I don't know anything about social medias but my kids are often communicating with their friends through them: he's on Facebook and Instagram...so maybe you can reach him that way.
     
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  6. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Unless its a truly rare coin you cannot buy anywhere else, I would move on. Lots of companies selling coins. No sense getting frustrated by people unwilling to take your money.

    Btw, I do know some sellers resent you asking them to lower their prices. They prefer you make an offer, and then they respond to it. Maybe try that.
     
  7. benhur767

    benhur767 Sapere aude

    Don't expect responses from VCoins dealers on offers for coins, even if the offer isn't low ball. I've tried a couple of times with different VCoins dealers and they've just ignored me.
     
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  8. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    I don't think that is true with every Vcoins dealer.
     
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  9. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Expect some messages incoming shortly ;)
     
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  10. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    I always respond...not saying you will like the response though! :)

    I have my opinion in my terms.
     
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  11. ValiantKnight

    ValiantKnight Well-Known Member

  12. robinjojo

    robinjojo Well-Known Member

    A year or two ago I made an offer to Athena on a coin that they had on Vcoins for a long time, but did not receive a reply. I think it is clearly their policy not to negotiate price.

    That last coin from them had an odd, artificial blueish tinge to it. It cleaned off very quickly. I've seen some other silver coins listed by them with the same blue color.

    Here's the coin before a quick dip:

    Quataban imitation owl tetradrachm before cleaning.jpg

    and here it is after:

    D-Camera  Qataban South Arabia tetradrachm, imiation owl, 4-3 cen BC, 16.9 grams Vcoins 7-3-21.jpg

    The change is subtle, and the upper photo was probably taken with a flash. The lower photo, the one I took, is in natural indoor light.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2021
  13. Ricardo123

    Ricardo123 Well-Known Member

    Surprise nobody talk about antiquities smuggling 10 years ago. Didnt he plead guilty ?
     
  14. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member


    Wholly apart from the fake sand patina on bronze coins, Athena is notorious for that artificial bluish tinge on silver coins. Browse through Athena's stock and you'll see many examples. See this thread of mine about an example I bought from Athena of the Hadrian Aegyptos denarius, which came with that blue tone -- and was quite unattractive in person, to be honest: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-mysterious-transformation.360216/

    This is the coin as it looked when I bought it:




    [​IMG]

    And this is the coin as it looks now, after the passage of a few months caused most of the blue tone to fade, and a brief treatment described in my thread took care of the rest:

    Hadrian-Aegyptos - new combined photo.png

    A vast improvement, I think!

    Speaking of Egypt, he also does something to all the billon tetradrachms from Roman Alexandria that he sells. Not applying a blue tone, but something else, because all the ones he offers look pretty much exactly alike in tone, regardless of their condition, and quite different from those offered by other sellers -- much more like silver than they ordinarily do. Once you've seen his Roman Alexandrian tetradrachms, you'll always recognize them. It's really too bad he feels the need to jazz them up, because he has one of the largest and most varied stocks of Roman Alexandrian coins of any dealer. And his prices are a bit high, but not outrageous. (There's only one V-Coins dealer I can think of whose prices are almost always completely outrageous. I won't name her, hint, hint.)

    Separately, I too, have noticed that he replies to inquiries either very belatedly or not at all. Not only to offers, but to inquiries about the shipping of coins already purchased. Once, after a very long silence concerning the shipping of a purchased coin, he finally responded and used the "family problems" excuse. Who knows?
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2021
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  15. Nicholas Molinari

    Nicholas Molinari Well-Known Member

    Email the firm directly. I’ve had problems before with vcoin’s internal messaging service, and I’ve heard sellers complain as well.
     
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  16. Libby007

    Libby007 Active Member

    I, too, always respond. When I make an offer on VCoins, I always apologize - in advance - If the seller deems my offer unsetteling. I have never had a problem. Hope this helps. Fred
     
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  17. sand

    sand Well-Known Member

    Interesting. The only time, that I ever sent a message, to a Vcoins dealer, I never got a response. That was using the Vcoins message system. I was asking a question, about an order, which I had submitted.
     
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  18. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    I have tried that with this guy; it doesn't necessarily work.
     
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  19. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    I have seen others do the same, (or at least coins from other dealers, do not know who did it). It gives the appearance in photographs of original silver lusterous surfaces. Looks good in the photo, not good in hand. You did well removing that gunk.
     
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  20. IMP Shogun

    IMP Shogun Well-Known Member

    This right here is a problem. I thought it was bad photo shop, I would never buy anything from a dealer that does this.
     
  21. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    I was very naive when I bought the coin! It baffles me now that he thinks anyone would prefer that look, or would believe that it occurs naturally.
     
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