Just won these from Shane on Ebay--they are part of the "Golden Nugget Casino Horde." The Golden Nugget had a custom of having coins for high rollers for presentation. They were kept in the drawer of the cashier of the Casino for years, and given out as tokens to "whales" only. 120 of these very colorfully toned Ikes were submitted to ICG, as the casino had a relationship with the company. These are four of them that are coming my way. Don't care about the ICG plastic, or the grade--these are pretty unique and special in the toned Ike world. Only 120 of the presentation coins exist. I've heard about these for years, and thanks to Kryptonite, I now own some.
They were just a presentation token for the Whales. They weren't used--just kept in the cash drawer for special customers.
Yes, as initial bids. They didn't finish in that range--same as usual. Everything on Ebay gets sniped repeated at the end. I don't know why anyone would bid before the last minute on Ebay, or set their max limit early and just wait.
Well, I for one like to put in my max limit and wait it out. Generally if you put in a bid for what it is actually worth even if someone tries to snipe you still stand a good chance of winning. When you won't win is when you put in an optimistically low bid and hope it doesn't reach it's full value, or someone overpays (at that point let them have it). I pick a price point on a coin that is the Maximum I am willing to spend and then I stick to it. Is it frustrating to get outbid in the last second by a few dollars? Sometimes yes, but at the same time in prevents me from getting into a bidding war and/or spending more that I wanted or more than the coin is worth. Too many times people get caught up in the thrill of the moment and end up doing more harm to themselves than good. If i see an auction at the last minute that is within reason, i'll throw in a Hail Mary at the last second, but usually i just set my max bid and walk away.