I spent the first decade of my coin collecting life on U.S. coins, but have begun dabbling in ancient coins over the last year or two. With U.S. coins, I know my options - I do most of my buying on eBay, GreatCollections, and occasionally Heritage, as well as a great local shop. With ancients, I'm a little bit more confused on where to look. I've been shopping at VCoins, but at times am frustrated by the selection. I've started looking on CNG a bit now too, though mainly window-shopping for now as I'm still trying to learn market price/values. Are there any other platforms/auction sites that are big within the ancients space? And are there any dealers with online presences (as opposed to just shows) who have a great reputation? If it helps, I'm mainly interested in Roman imperial, though wouldn't mind getting into Greek coins as well.
Big Sid's Aluminum Wheel-Hub Casting and Really Authentic Ancients Coins, Inc. ... just jokes ... yah, VCoins is good (actually Paul-M just nailed it, see above) => good luck with your collecting (hey, please don't be shy to ask the coin-gang for help "before" you hit the bid-button)
Thanks for the recos! Now I recall seeing sixbid mentioned a few times. I've been wanting a Julius Caesar military mint elephant denarius for a while now, and looks like there are some great examples on auction. Any tips or watch outs when using sixbid? Do some of the auction houses have pretty high buyer's premiums? Definitely, will do! I mainly lurk in this forum and read the threads, but it seems like a great community.
I have bought from and recommend the following: vcoins-coins that fit many budgets CNG- a very popular auction site that carries a great variety Forum Ancient Coins- A very nice selection of coins with a great return policy and a guarantee of authenticity Agora auctions- very good service and an interesting selection Naville Numismatics- British auction house with some very interesting coins MA Shops- like vcoins but mostly European dealers There are many others but I have been very pleased with the above firms.
Yes-- some auction houses have astronomical buyer's premiums so you'll need to carefully check the terms for each auction. The lowest BP I've seen is ~12%; highest ~21.5% (or was it 23%? I'm trying to block that bad memory ). BPs are sometimes different from auction to auction within a given auction house. For instance, CNG has a higher BP for their print auctions (their "important" auctions). Also check payment options. Do they take credit cards and PayPal? Do they charge an extra fee for that? Many/most do. Another recent development in Feeland: an extra fee for bidding live online (!!). Fortunately this doesn't happen often and tends to be reserved for "big" auctions. The fees can quickly make a coin undesirable. Don't forget to figure in exchange rates if you live in a country that uses a different currency. If you live in the EU and are buying a coin from an EU dealer, you'll also have VAT. As for Numisbids and Sixbid tips: Most but not all auction houses are listed in both. Because there are a few who show up in only one or the other, you'll need to browse both. Of the two services, I prefer Numisbids. Use Numisbids' (and CNG's) Want List feature. You'll receive email notifications when coins matching your criteria are posted. Usually there is a delay of a few days between posting and receipt of such emails, although you'll get them well before the auction. Numisbids recently added a nice feature: you can write a couple of lines of notes underneath coins on your Watch List. You can submit your bids through either of these auction aggregators. Some folks here use that service. I've only tried that a few times. Twice my auctions weren't received or processed by the auction house (fine print: your bid isn't official until the auction house notifies you that it was accepted). I think it is better to bid directly with the auction house. Other random notes: Start signing up with auction houses. You'll be asked for references on most applications (a list of auction houses and dealers with whom you have done business). This can be tough when you are first starting out, but if you've been collecting modern coins it probably won't be an issue because you've probably used Heritage, GC, and others. Research prior prices realized for any coins you are considering. CNG's archives, ACsearch, and CoinArchives will give you many hits in most cases. Try to remain objective when comparing your potential target to the archive coins. There will of course be a great deal of variation in hammer prices, so if a coin seems to be an outlier just chalk that one up to two or more very determined bidders and treat that price with a grain of salt. Look for fixed price examples of the same coin (Vcoins and MA-shops are the main stops for this, although in some instances eBay is also appropriate). Make sure there isn't another one for sale that you like better at a better price. Estimates provided by an auction house are only meaningful in terms of setting the opening bids. Often the estimates are comically low (I prefer low estimates). Less often, the estimates are so high that opening bids are retail prices. I tend to ignore auction houses whose opening bids are already retail prices.
New collectors need first to learn the difference between a seller and what TIF called an 'aggregator'. Sixbids, Numisbids, VCoins and eBay do not sell coins. They provide a platform through which buyers can find sellers. You often hear people say they bought a coin on VCoins. They did not. They bought a coin from a dealer who has set up a VCoins shop and lists his coins there for matters of convenience and attracting buyers. Just because you have a good experience with one VCoins dealer does not mean you will with others. They are separate and independent businesses. There was a time that VCoins strictly enforced the rules of having a presence there but I have not been terribly impressed with this feature lately. Similarly, eBay is said to be a bunch of crooks. No, there are crooks and there are good sources on eBay. It is your job to sort them out. You are better off buying from an individual dealer like CT's own Ken Dorney (who has a VCoins store), or JA, Valentinian (and others who sell here on CT). CNG is a big name in ancient coins in the US and quite trustworthy as is Harlan Berk and a pile of others. Don't try to buy your first 50 coins from 50 different dealers. Find a few you feel trustworthy and go slow into the big pond, one toe at a time.
Doug is pretty fricken sharp once again, eh? => my avatar was purchased from my favourite eBay seller (oh, and currently my only eBay seller) .... I agree that knowing the seller and trusting the seller makes the whole ancient coin-game a whole lotta fun!! (thanks Pierre => you rock!!)
I asked a few weeks ago on a thread (not sure if it ever got posted, and, if it did the lack of responses was because the dealer is relatively unknown) about anyone's experience with Davcoin/Davissons out of Cold Spring, MN. Sorry if this is seen as a hijack, but as a new collector in ancients perhaps responses will help both the OP and me (and others, too?). Steve
I don't think I've ever bid with them but I always browse their auctions hoping to find something because they have no buyer's premium* (!). They are US-based. You can get a feel for what sold and at what price by browsing their auction archives. https://davcoin.com/sales-archive *I should amend my prior post to say BP ranges from 0% to 21.5+%. I forgot about Davisson when I posted those remarks.
Davisson's is well known, and has been around for years. I believe their particular expertise is English hammered coins, but they also handle ancients. I've never bought from them, but I can't buy from EVERYONE!!
I have bought several world coins from Davisson's (not any ancients). I have been extremely pleased with their service. I have also sold to them, and again been well pleased. I have seen them at the FUN show, and I get their auction catalogs.
Great question and I'm sure the distinguished members of this forum will provide you with the names of the best and most trustworthy dealers in ancients. Although I am a relatively new member of the forum, I would like to recommend L. Alexander Wolfe Ancient Art and Artifacts, Jerusalem, Israel. They are honest, knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. They are the oldest and most respected State of Israel licenced dealer in coins and artifacts of the Judaean and regional kingdoms. The coins that you purchase from them include a signed and sealed export document from the Israel Antiquities Authority. With the impending laws concerning cultural property and proof of provenance, an official document like the one the Wolfe company provides, will be extremely important to collectors.
For my own use, I made a site listing places to buy ancient coins. http://augustusmath.hypermart.net/dealers.html If you have too much time on your hands, you can check out sites for many hours.
I've bid many times but have yet to successfully purchase something from Davissons... Glad to hear others have had good experiences though!
