How much is too much?

So, there is a coin I have been searching for actively for about eight years. Its probably on my top three list. Everyone says it's just scarce, but I have not seen one for sale in this time. One just came up for auction, (just in time for my birthday lol). It's estimate is $150. How much over estimate would you guys go, knowing how long I have been looking? I was thinking around $750 or so. Too high or low?

 

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Depends on the coin and how badly you want it. There are coins I have been searching for for lots of years and then they come up for sale and the right price but I get the jitters... and then a whole bunch of them come out of the woodwork and my choices get better. I have some Scottish coins that are darned near if not unique for their variety - so when one comes up I snap them up. With Scotland voting on independence next week - I wonder what the outcome for the Scottish coin market might be?

 

If it's a CNG estimate, you can safely chuck it out the window. It will have absolutely zero bearing on the hammer price.

 

Paying $750 for a $150 coin seems too much. But if this is the first one you can find in eight years, I would think it would be worth more than $150.

 

That's my point. Depending on the auction house, the estimate has nothing to do with the actual value of the coin. Low estimates encourage bidding. That's all.

 

It depends on the coin but many estimates are intentionally low or intentionally high. After waiting for 8 years, if it's in your top three and you don't need the funds if #1 comes up tomorrow, I'd say go for it. There are always other coins waiting around the corner but carpe diem, and perhaps be ready to go higher than $750 if needed.

 

I know I am being cryptic, and I apologize. Sear has it at an average price for the series, nothing really unusual. I just have a reason I want this one in particular. Similar types seem to go for 200-250 on average, so hopefully I get lucky.

 

I have lost out on a couple banknotes that I was in a similar situation with. Placed a bid that I thought should have been good, but it turned out there were other folks that wanted it as much as I, and were stronger with their bids. All I can say is I wish I'd bid a bit more on those...

Hard to make a useful suggestion since I don't know your market at all, but certainly something you've been waiting for this long is worth several multiples of what "catalog" might suggest.

 

I find that the pieces I stretch for price wise due to scarcity/eye appeal, end up being the better purchases for the long term. The "pain" goes away after a few days

 

First one in 8 years? I wouldn't care at all about the estimate, not at all. The question is, what is it worth to you?
At a recent auction, a lot I've been looking for for years came up with an 80 eur estimate. My bid was 1000 and I won for 825. This was a huge expense for me. My usual budget is $100 or less and I'll have to sell of several coins to pay for it but that's what it was was worth to me.
If it went for more than my high bid than so be it. It was the absolute maximum I could afford and I wouldn't have any regrets. With rarities, I hate kicking myself if it was worth more to me than i bid.
I would love to know the coin your looking at, maybe after the auction we could see it, hopefully with you as the owner.

 

I second that. Show us the coin after the auction!

 

Good suggestions Doug. I had already done searches of one of these. Is it a pretty bad sign that from all three of these search engines, this coin has only sold once, and that was 6 years ago? It seems its putting more pressure on me to pull the trigger regardless of price if I actually want it.

 

I would pay whatever you feel comfortable and whatever it's worth to you. I have paid many times the "value" of a collectible that I really wanted...because it was worth that much to me. I will probably never get my money back out of them...but that's not why I bought them.

 

#1
Please post a photo in this thread when you win it.

#2
If you bid $750 and someone else gets it for $800 how will you feel about it? If you bid $1001 and someone else gets it for $1050 how would you feel? Forget about the estimate & just place your max bid / snipe bid at the last moment.

#3
Good luck. Good luck. Good luck.

 

I second everything that has been written above

If you're OK with spending big bucks on that coin in particular go for it : you will have lot more regrets not to have it than to have spend a big amount on it (as already said, pain isn't for a long time in that case)

Starting bid is pointless for appreciating the value : I saw once at an auction a coin I hadn't seen turning around for ages. The "estimation" was at 60 euros with a starting bid at 45. My bid was 250, which, with the fees and shipping would lead me to spend 300+ (i.e. five times the estimate). It went for.....3200 euros + fees

I don't have too much regret as I wouldn't have been able to spend that much at that time, 300 euros being the maximum I could allow to myself, but, should I have been able to reach that amount, I'm pretty sure I would still be green

Good luck
Q

 

Given the circumstances, figure out how much is "too much" such that you wouldn't want it at that price, and then bid right below that. Don't think in terms of what it should cost. You know you want the coin.

 

First of all, Med-man => Happy Birthday (or upcoming birthday) ...

I think that Zohar444 hit the ol' nail on the head when he stated:

=> yah, there are certainly a few unicorn-coins prancing through my head at night, taunting me because I failed to capture them with a bold bid!!

Ancients are a bit different than modern coins, but the theoretical hole in your collection is still the same ... holes were created for filling!