It seems like every coin I've been watching on eBay lately has gotten to some ridiculous bid. Here's a good example: 1930 Greek 20 drachmai: http://www.ebay.com/itm/40028186269...IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649&autorefresh=true It's not in especially good shape. The seller rates it VF, which if that's accurate values it at $12.50 according to Krause. Most coins don't sell for their Krause value, so I'd probably put it lower. It has about $6 worth of silver in it. So what did it sell for? $27, plus $3 shipping! They made 11 million of these! I don't know if the weather is making people crazy or if they just got their tax refunds or what.
Well, maybe they're seeing the BIN's listed for 25% more: http://www.ebay.com/itm/GREECE-20-D...027?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33722b1873 Do an eBay search on this coin... most are priced considerably over guide.
So all these people then are raising the demand and value in the process of buying these coins at higher prices. Perhaps they're no longer worth $12.50 now but in the 20 dollar range or higher.
I see some ridiculous buy it now prices though. If they are good prices, people buy them. The ones that sit there for months are the overpriced ones.
I've noticed that too. I could scoop up common date slabbed MS 65 and 66 wheats in the 20's and 30's for $3-15 now they all want $30-50. Coins are hot right now (granted mostly gold and silver) but I think many people are looking to flip 'em and make a buck. Others are looking for coins and art stuff like that hoping that buy it now for X amount and in a few years it will be double that amount. Kind of like a replacement for the stock market for their invesments. Good luck with that but it's the herd's mentality and many are in way over their heads.
Lot of bidders from overseas markets, there is huge swing in price between US sellers' who ship only domestic to sellers who ship internationally. Also some of the bidding up is being done by schill bidding.
That's an interesting theory about the bidding being higher for sellers who ship internationally. I don't think there's any way to see what country the winner comes from though if you're not the seller. I was also watching a bunch of British farthings from the 1870s and 1880s. Most have a book value of a few dollars and all were bid up to $10-$15. It was this along with the Greek coin I mentioned earlier that inspired me to start this thread. I've also been watching some Brazilian coins with the same problem. And this is really in the last week or two, so that's pretty quick to be a developing trend.
Well you can add those items to a list and when buyer eventually does leave feedback for those coins. You can see what country of origin they are from thru the sellers' feedbacks'.
Most of my eBay sales of foreign coins have been to India, Russia, Latvia and Israel. Most, if not all, have been aggressive bidders. Nearly all of my US bidders place an opening bid and nothing more. Just last year African coins were hot, today not so. I can't seem to move my Angola coins. Last year they went for several dollars, today a buck at best. Chinese cash and Canadian pre-1953 coins do very well. Two years ago I couldn't give these away even with free shipping. Greek coins may be in vogue because of all the news on the greek economy. I've noticed that my sales are in step with news accounts of a particular country. This may be a sign of novice collectors who haven't found their niche in the market and bend their attention to current events, subsequently collecting coins from countries which are in the news headlines.
I was watching a British 1927 6 pence a few days ago and it sold for $27. I looked it up in Krause and it's not a rare or valuable coin, listed at $2 in the condition it was probably in. It's weird. You make me want to start shipping overseas when I sell, but I don't know how to price it or how to do it, and I know people have a lot of problems doing that.
I feel your pain HD. I have been on an epic fail tear in my auction activity lately. I placed bids in some European auctions at 5-6 times estimate and haven't even been close, and have lost about 100 Ebay auctions in a row now. I simply don't know if I am becoming cheaper or if I am staying the same but the market is moving past me. All I know is even after trying to raise my bids to be able to buy something, I haven't bought a coin in a couple of months. This coming from a guy who usually averages 3-4 packages a week arriving at his house. Chris
