Are you Kidding Me!!

And therein lies the difference between many of us and investors. I am not an investor, I'm a collector of coins. If I want to invest I buy stocks or bullion. My current modest collection of ancients ranges in price from around $30 to $400. In time I could see myself forking a bit of money to add a few special pieces, but I will always have plenty of room in my collection for $30-$100 coins. My one rule for collecting is very simple...do I genuinely enjoy the coin? If I don't, I won't get it no matter how much it costs or how rare its supposed to be.

Some people have posted coins here that are worth several thousands that have made me drool, and some people have posted coins worth $40 or $50 that have made me drool just as much. And by the same token, I've seen some coins here worth several hundreds or thousands that really haven't done much to me, because I just didn't care enough about either the theme depicted or knew little about the particular region or culture that made them to really appreciate them. I admired them for what they were and I'm glad the owner enjoys them....but coins are a very personal thing regardless of price. You either genuinely enjoy a particular example or you don't. Collect what you like, and what you don't like I'm sure someone else out there will find some joy out of it and collect it.

 

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I can attest to this.

 

This coin was sold from a vcoin dealer, should be real or at least be able to return if it isn't!.

 

To me this coin has zero eye appeal. I appreciate the history of ancient coins but without the eyeball factor I'm out!

 

+1

 

I would pay $15 and no more. It is horrible.

 

You sure part with $15 easy enough.

 

Straw buyer sale to inflate it's value.

 

I would strongly agree with this -- as much as I would like to acquire certain specific coins such as the Colosseum sestertius, unless the coin also appeals to me aesthetically, I won't consider it. This includes a lot of desirable, highly price coins that might be tooled (which I consider the equivalent of defacing the coin) or too worn to capture the essence of the coin's historical significance.

Arguably, though, the fact that someone paid $15K for this extremely worn Colosseum sestertius tends to confirm that the person was a collector rather than a disinterested investor. Clearly the coin appeals to someone who knows the history behind the coin and wants the coin strongly enough to look past its condition. I doubt very much it would appeal to an investor since it's hard to argue that this particular coin will appreciate in price in the next 5-10 years.

 

Certainly a possibility. Or money laundering. Or a guy who wants a coin really badly. Which one, we will never know, without the buyer fessing up.

All three situations occur in the arts and antiquities market.

I have been told a convincing story during a major auction I attended where something like the straw buyer scenario was occurring. It was a big ticket item. I'm convinced they were correct. Especially when one follows the life of that coin. The whole story is a real hoot.

I have read numerous articles concerning the second scenario (money laundering thru art and antiquities)and have had a dealer in antiquities in NYC tell me a story about small Roman bronze statues, that I took to be true. Gems are another great way to launder money I am told. I have nothing dirty to wash when it comes to money, but it seems that a lot of people out there do. Some money is so dirty, they will pay a hug tax on it to get it moved through auction houses if needed.

And the third scenario, the guy/gal who just has to have that coin...............well........we all know people like that. Folks willing to sacrifice much in pursuit of a dream.

 

Spartacus?

 

Suggesting that it's worth $15 or less than $200 is silly. There are plenty of ugly coins out there that "I don't get" but that doesn't mean they aren't valuable. If it's real, it's just a low grade example of an extremely rare famous ancient coin. The detail is not so worn as to make identification difficult. If authenticity is suspect, that is another story.

 

i generally agree with this, but (obviously) any coin is only worth what someone is willing to pay however scarce or rare. I couldn't convince myself it's 'worth' more than a couple of hundred in that horrible condition and I wonder what you would be willing to pay for it?

 

I think when we talk about what a coin is worth, we should consider how much it could reliably sell for. This auction may be an outlier - all it takes is two slightly crazy and determined bidders to realise an extraordinary one-off price. Do you think an auction like this is reliably repeatable? I doubt it. I suspect on a different day the price realised would be much less.

Part of the appeal of this type, is the image of the Colosseum that everybody can recognise on a good example. If the coin is so worn that most people wouldn't know what they're looking at, I don't see the point. I wouldn't buy it for even the CT estimate of $200.

 

I did not suggest that the coin was worth $15. I said that is what I would pay for it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

I wouldn't pay very much for a Jackson Pollock or Andy Warhol painting. I think they are both hideous in their own way. But I don't look at them as valueless junk.

I don't know exactly what it's worth. I don't collect these. But I imagine there are collectors like me, that cannot afford the finest examples and would be happy with a low grade example of a rare type, if it can be easily identified and reasonably authenticated. I would disagree that the amount of wear on this particular coin prevents its easy identification and iconic depiction.

I like the previously mentioned idea of considering what a coin might reliably sell for, say if it were auctioned 4 or 5 times in a row. Of course, this is a thought exercise and rarely able to be carried out, especially for these rare pieces that come to market quite infrequently. Do you think that the coin would sell for $200 if it were to go into the next CNG auction (and say someone like Sear gave it a thumbs up for authenticity)? Is $2000 more accurate? Would $5000 be outlandish? There was an impaired worn example sold by CNG earlier this year for $7000 (on a pre-auction estimate of $1000).

It should be kept in mind that markets for rare coins can be manipulated and hoarding of rare types to keep prices high is not unheard of, but I think there is a fairly broad demand for this particular issue by museums and collectors.

 

If it can be authenticated, which in this case is a very big "if" indeed, this coin would reliably sell at auction between $1000-1500.

 

@Nap you may well be right. I don't buy coins to sell at auction. When I first started collecting, I bought all sorts of crap, just because I didn't have that particular emperor. Or that particular reverse. Now I am a little more discerning although my budget is low. Now buy a coin because I like it and for no other reason. I just don't like that particular coin

 

Nothing wrong with that. It's good your collecting tastes have refined, I think that's important for all collectors.