I don't have any issues with someone contacting me by PM about a possible purchase. Recently a US collector on this forum asked me to help him acquire a Tribute Penny. I found one for him and we vetted the piece as thoroughly as we could, checking for matches against known counterfeits at Forgerynetwork and FORVM. The coin had the proper dimensions, the legends were correct, the style was correct, and the fabric also looked authentic. I informed this collector that the dealer was eminently reputable, and that I had done business with him several times with no disappointment. In the end, he did acquire the coin. If we had posted that discussion on the open forum, it's very likely that somebody would have found the coin and snatched it out from under him. Heck, the more I examined that piece, the more I wanted it. My only concern about posting possible acquisitions is that I want my friends on this forum to win the coins they are bidding on, and I believe showing your hand by posting live auctions simply undermines the possibility of winning the coin.
I don't at all mind being asked opinions on a coin but it has come up more than once that someone has posted a coin I had seen and had some interest in. In the vast majority of cases, it is not a problem since I'm too cheap to pay the going rate for things that have drawn other interest but I have risked turning on others to coins I like and may want to upgrade. It is not right for me to post a request for Steve not to bid on a coin I know he likes just so he does not bid me up on it but I have mentioned here in the past that I wanted a specific coin that is coming up in a couple weeks and I would prefer certain of you don't see. A friend of mine once backed off a coin because I had already bid on it (this was back when eBay let everyone see the names of the bidders). I did not follow through and the coin went for half what it was worth to someone else. My friend was not happy with me. Today, I have no idea if the person bidding against me is a friend or a stranger. That is better for eBay since it opens the possibility that two of us will bump heads where we would conspire against the seller if we knew the whole situation. There is a post on Forvm at the moment where the winner, second and third have all introduced themselves. I'd rather I not take a coin or run up the price for my friend in the far north but I hope when I post a new win that I see a reply saying 'nice coin' rather than, 'It was me that you outbid with 5 seconds to go'.
I have to disagree YOC. The point of all this chatter is that we want to be courteous to fellow collectors. It would not be seemly to tell someone it's OK to ask for opinions on a potential purchase/bid, and then try to outbid them because this is the first time you've seen this coin.
As a matter of fact, I'll be bidding on a coin later today that's mis-attributed by the dealer. It's a rarity, but so far it's garnered very little attention. Send me some positive aution-winning vibes!
We'll need to see some pics of that coin so the positive auction-winning vibes can be channeled more accurately. Good luck on it, anyway . Hope you win it!
Excellent! Now you'll be winning that coin with the head of a dog facing slightly right with carrot and celery reverse for sure!
Nobody's censoring anyone. Doug has his opinion, you have yours, I have mine. In the end, we're all free to do as we please.
In case you are not aware, you can go to the profile pages of the bullies that bother you and click 'Ignore'. Our posts will go away.
Disagreements don't necessarily translate to bullying. If I said anything that made you feel bullied, I apologize. But I still reserve the right to politely disagree with anyone I disagree with.
Ever notice how these posts always degrade so quickly when we talk about the ethics of bidding against people we know? Everyone gets more and more defensive of their opinion until it turns childish. I prefer cool coins and funny gifs so here is a distraction. I like owls.
YOC, personally I wouldn't bid against you for something like this, but that's because I'm not interested in this series. Now, I think that it's fine if every once in a while someone posts a coin their bidding on, ONCE IN A WHILE! I don't think it's wise to do it very often, and you haven't. I just think that Doug doesn't like it because he's such a nice guy, and would than feel guilty if he bid on that item (or he already was bidding on it). So anyhow how about we all shake hands (regardless of who was misunderstood or in the wrong) and get back to owl GIFS!
