I have recently been checking out some auctions and prices things go for at some of these sites. Mostly for estate/consign and dealer auctions. I have noticed some inventive descriptions and some varieties that when searched for online don't seem to exhist... Anyone else frequent these, any valuable tips?
Exactly which sites are you talking about ? I'm asking because some may be good and others I wouldn't go near.
I was looking at Proxibid and Auction Flex hosted listings. I already noticed on Proxibid the different auction houses that are hosted there widely verry in how they describe the lots. Years and years ago I went to live auctions with my father, but that was a very long time ago. The last live auction I went to I am actually still kicking myself in the rear for though. I had a 10k budget, I planned to pick up gold coinage, they all went for melt value, and I didn't pull the trigger!!! My dad was going to put up the money and we split the profits, I was scared to spend/take a loss. The coins I was looking at were selling for at least double melt on ebay and gold was $650 an ounce! I am just looking to see what is there at the moment, not so much for profit like before but maybe the occasional bag of pennies or hole fillers from an estate deal. I still think gold will dip down to 1k or lower so I might consider some investment purchases when it gets lower too.
Actually how is herritage? I never gave them a look, but know they have a good rep. Are they too well know to get a deal at?
To me heritage is great. You just have to be patient and don't get caught up in a bidding war. Stacks is not bad also, just never won anything on it. And then track some online dealers - sometimes you get deals there also.
Run, do not walk, away ! Unless of course you want to experience what it feels like to be a sheep standing in the shearing barn. The comment I made above applies here as well. With the vast majority of local live auctions you would be far, far, better off to just stay home. If your interest lies in trying to speculate on the spot price of gold then forget auctions or coin dealers of any kind and just buy gold from known and respected bullion dealers. You can buy as much or as little gold as you like at any given moment of any given day right from the comfort of your own home, and you will only pay a small percentage over spot. But if you want to buy coins then the only auctions you should even consider are those held by well known and trusted, respected auction houses and/or dealers. Forget any and all others.
What it comes down to is I got out of collecting for a long time. If I see something shiney that I can make a buck on I might pick it up, but that is no more than a side note. When gold and silver were high I cashed out on the common and modern coins that I had, I miss them but do not regret getting rid of them seeing that I bought the ones I sold with that intention. The only one I got rid of that I didn't really want to would be a 3 cent nickel that paid my bills for a couple months. I think I wouldn't mind picking up some lots, mixed or unmixed to start rebuilding. When I bought coins before it was as an investment, unless it was a proof, in a holder, or a penny.. yes the penny hunt is fun for me. I am ready to start looking some fillers, and some random lots to look through and make them books heavy again, lol. And maybe another mystery to solve like the Standing Liberty Type 1 I have that took almost an hour with a dealer to find through markers what year it was seeing that the last 2 of the date were worn away and it was in what I started with when I first started collecting. I do want to try to find some more 3 cent, MS morgans, and other keepers. But the only way I will buy anything expensive is in person or from a source that other collectors trust. So pretty much Herritage or a place that I ask about here, lol.
Still isn't, or at least shouldn't be. Buying coins as an "investment" is a great way to the average collector to lose money. Mark mentioned this earlier, but Stack's is perfectly fine. If all things were equal, I would actually prefer them to Heritage. Someone please correct me if wrong, but "Proxibid" and "Auction Flex" are nothing more than sites which allows for anyone to host an "auction", right?
That is correct, they both host auctions from many different companies all over the country. Proxibid hosts for the company that does the police auctions here in San Diego, the other hosts for a local auction house that I know. On proxibid it seems like mowt are pretty accurate descriptions, and a small handfull try to assign everything as some sort of errou/Super Duper Special! coin. I have not checked auction flex's listings yet tthough.
O, and I have seen one collection that I truley consider a growing investment. An Ex's father busted out with some of what he had stashed in a large open area in the ducts(The really good stuff is in safety deposit boxes or hidden safes where they lived. He had well over 1000 MS64+ morgans, several full books for all american coins, bank bags he had not looked through yet(he gave me a couple to search through . O, did I mention mom worked as a teller in a bank... I cant really call it an investment though seeing that it is too beautifull and complete a collection to ever break up, lol. Most collections do not have more than 50 coins worth over 800 by them selves(gold not included) The collection above had every set offered by the mint excluding medals and commeritaves been ordering them as far back as he could remember, even the platinums. I wouldn't consider my collection an investment at the moment, It is what I like collecting. Mostly pennies and a good ammount of proofs that were bought individually. I used to go into shops and buy their common silver coin trays out if they were asking close to melt. I would also purchase any gold I could afford, fully intending on selling both when prices got high enough. I think I would enjoy refilling my books, searching through lots and getting some uncommon coin types like the 3 and 20 cent coins. Shoot yo can occasioal catch me wandering the desert trying to find a sister to the gold nugget that was found "somewhere between the mohave and siearra deserts, armed with a metal detector and a sandbox shovel.
for the hosting sites lik proxibid you have a pretty wide variety of sources, everything from auction houses to coin shops. For instance tomorrow there is a pawn shop liquidation and a collection that rivals the one I mentioned . Both are where you will find things you may not see available many places. pawn shop because.. well is there anywhere it isn't a good idea to check and see what pawn shops have, lol. And the estate one because those collections are the only places you aren't fighting EVERY other person searching for those ultra high end 10k+ coins.(and yes there are some at that one). Those collections are also where you can buy lots out of well organized sorted collections. You can pick a date and find a roll of Unc condition morgans, get a lot of my 3 centers(57 at one of ther .. wipes drool ..) or my favorite for tomorrow a $1000 bill, lol. I doubt I will bid on anything there, seeing that I am not at the spending part of my proscess yet(unless I see something I cant resist).
Ya, I put some watches and there were some decent end bids but for the most part they were going to retail. It was so much easier before the internet hosting to find steals at auction. Add in the shipping and the buyers premium and you just gave them your paddle.. have fun on the river, lol.
