Buying lots in auctions

Just wondered what everybody's experiences are when buying bulk lots in auctions? I know the photos don't always show every coin, or each side of the coin, so there's an element of risk involved. Are people generally happy? Are these coins usually low grade, common and disappointing? Because i don't have any Roman Republic coins I have been considering buying a bulk lot of these to get me started.

 

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I have never bought a bulk lot. It is just my personal preference but I would rather have 1 coin I love than 10 I do not. Just my opinion.

 

I wouldn't buy a bulk lot. Take your time, buy each coin based on it's own merits. There are some auctions that offer nice bulk lots, but you really want to know what you're buying and not leave it up to chance.

 

I've never purchased a bulk lot, but some here have and they are more than pleased. TIF and Zumbly come to mind. Z spent a lot on a large lot earlier this year I believe, but some of the coins were spectacular. I think the same can be said for TIF's experiences.

 

I'm considering buying a bulk lot of uncleaned coins. I know I probably won't get much worthwhile out of it as far as high end grades are concerned, but I figured the experience of cleaning and revealing some coins might be a fun task in of itself.

As far as bulk lots of cleaned coins, I would probably not do it if I can't see every coin and see both sides. Sounds like an easy way to overspend, get problem coins, and be disappointed with what you get.

At least with an uncleaned bulk lot the experience and fun of cleaning is it's own reward, even if you don't actually get much in the way of coins.

 

I thought so as well, but after countless hours with very little to show for the work or the money, I no longer buy uncleaned lots. In my experience, 75% were culls or not worth the effort.

 

Oh I used to buy uncleaned lots. The best ones were "high grade" lots (I don't see these anymore?), where most of the coins were keepers. But what you find becomes predictable - common 4th century emperors with the same 6 or so reverse types, plus very occasionally Probus/Aurelian/Claudius II/Gallienus. That's all you ever get. And the 4th century is where Roman coins start to get dull IMO.

 

Never bought a lot at an auction, but before i started collecting ancients, i bought a 200 coin lot for $400, half were culls. i did get some awesome coins out of it.

 

There are exceptions, but the typical group lot is going to be composed of coins that didn't make the grade to be considered for an individual listing. You really need to look closely at whatever pictures are provided and try to scrutinise what's can be seen, good and bad, before you can come up with an idea of what's worth paying for it. Even then, there's an element of a gamble there, and you want to be getting a fair discount off retail to make it worth your while.

Speaking strictly about RRs, my observation is that there are fewer group lots of them offered and the prices tend to go up to the point you're better off looking for individual coins. Speaking for myself, even though I'd like to grow my RR collection, group lots of them tend to have too many quadriga and Dioscuri types of average quality for me to be keen on them, with the other more interesting coins coming in below average grade.

 

If every item of the lot is listed and properly described and the price is good then it's worth it.

If it's one of those "mystery" lots then run for the hills and don't look back.

 

Excellent advice people

 

I've picked up a few large mixed lots and they were tons of fun. Zumbly scored perhaps the best mixed lot I've seen, chock full of coins which would typically be sold individually.

Of the three main large mixed lots I've purchased, one was great, one seemed bad at first but in reality was great, and the other was okay but really didn't contain anything I want to keep-- but I knew that would be the case when I bought it.

Most of the group lots I purchased were near the beginning of my collecting. Since uncleaned coins proved so unsatisfying, I just wanted a bunch of coins right away to jumpstart the collection and for the fun of learning about them and attributing them. In that regard, they were certainly worth the price paid. These days I usually buy individual coins but some group lots are still tempting.

 

I buy sometimes uncleaned lots, they contain 99% follis coins so late roman.
they come from detector finds.

 

I've bought a few lots, both cleaned and uncleaned, and haven't found anything great in them (though my collection is low-budget enough that I've found a few keepers anyway).

It was always than worth it though, since I really like IDing unidentified coins. After all, with an IDed coin you get it and look at it for a minute and then you put it in your album. You can get hours of fun and learning out of a mystery coin before it makes it into your album. And a whole lot of mystery coins? There's my Thursday night!

 

I love group lots. Some have been excellent, other have been ill advised but I will keep buying them when I have a coin budget again!

 

There are lots and there are lots. If you buy a lot from the back of a sale that is overall too good for you like the upcoming Triton sale remainders of the BCD collection ( grouped as 200-600 coins per lot) you will get some coins that make you look like a specialist in a subject you couldn't name today. Similarly their 170+ denarii lot is probably better coins than most I own. If you buy a lot of things that previously failed to sell on eBay, your experience will differ. Usually good lots seem to go higher than I can see paying and will be bought by a dealer or dealer wannabe who plans to resell them for five times a reasonable price.
https://www.cngcoins.com/Search.asp...1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_2=1&VIEW_TYPE=0
The above search for large lots shows what some high end groups have included in the past. A few were named hoards and went for much above the value of the coins without that provenance. A few are groups of a hundred coins of the same type. There are groups of ten very much alike at ~$400 a coin. If I were looking for a lot, none of those would strike me as my style. There are others that seem interesting but at what price??? I find these things interesting to look at but I'd rather chase individuals.

 

Dealers and hoarders buy lots, collectors of individual coins less so. The Spanish dealer that bought one of the Ihnasyah hoard lots, listed on the page Doug linked, got each coin for about $5 (including the buyer's fee). I bought a few at $15 apiece, so he tripled his investment with my purchases. Will he be able to do so with all 645 coins? Maybe, over the span of many years. Dealers think of large lots as something like mutual funds, that is, long term investments. What can you do, though, when CNG groups the coins in lots of 645? Pass or gamble.

As far as hoarders go, you know the US collectors that have boxes and boxes of pennies in those plastic tubes? Large quantities of cheap coins just make some people feel good, that's all. This is the ancient version.

 

Everyone has already said it all, so I'll just offer (or repeat) what Zumbly posted:

 

Don't hate on the discouri. Everyone should have one or 2 decent examples in their collection.

 

I more than agree. I believe the minimum is one plain (I need to upgrade my fourree core), one with a symbol but no name (I lack that one) and one with moneyer name.