Leu Numismatik Auction - how do you extend an auction which has closed???

These 3 denarii hammered way above the starting prices.
I am guessing they are special, maybe somebody can explain what makes them so desirable.
(the left-facing Hadrian I can understand somehow, but still).

Starting at 50 CHF, hammered at 2500, 1400 and 1300 respectively:

 

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I was also puzzled by the fact that Augustus denarius of average quality was sold for 550 + 20% fee, insurance, that's 700 Francs... sounds crazy to me

 

Well, this auction is not unlike any other in that many lots sell below, and just as many sold way over what we would have expected. Ultimately I did not bid as the lots I was originally interested in got higher bids over that extended week. There was one lot of light interest I felt sold about 40% below average, so there were certainly bargains. Remember, it only takes two people to drive up prices!

 

In my opinion, with patience, you can find a superior coin to that aureus for 4000CHF which is why, if I had anything resembling that amount of spare money, I would not have bid.

 

Are you talking about this one? this would be more like 60% discount

 

No, that wasn't the one I was talking about. I just looked and could not find the one I was thinking of, so it may have been another auction. But this does illustrate some good points. Value is certainly in the eye of the beholder. While you point out this coin was previously 'sold' for 1,000 Francs via Nomos and the current auction it 'sold' for 430. It is possible they have both traded hands at those prices, but more likely there may have been reserves on either auction.

Bottom line is that in the current market nobody will bid unless the lot has a low starting point (much lower than likely to be realistic). But, there are so many auctions now these low starting lots may not get more than one bid, so the sellers protect themselves with reserves. It does make things confusing for the bidder, especially so when they do sales research which gives an unrealistic snapshot of prices.

While I have only run two auctions so far I only had a few reserved lots. I wont do that any more. I figure the opening price is what it will take to sell. Anything else is just a waste of everyones time.

 

Ken, so I looked at the archives out of curiosity and the coins of sort of the same quality were sold 1.2K, so.. here is another one.it seems to me, that for this quality coins sell above 1K USD (btw the one below, was sold back in 2008)

 

Why do you think this is? Has anything changed in the last decade or so? Is there a greater supply of ancient coins in the market or has demand from collectors dropped off, or the numbers of collectors declined?

I took a decade long hiatus from collecting so that is a long period of time during which I completely lost touch with the market and what was happening. I am still catching up.

When I used to run auctions regularly on eBay 12-15 years ago I never used a reserve price, even for premium coins (e.g. $1,000) and never once had a coin sell for what I thought was an unreasonably low price. I have no plans to list anything on eBay today but if I did I would add a reserve price, for a difference reason. It could be my perception, and perhaps some romantising of the past, but I do not recall eBay having so many fakes and suspect coins. I would be seriously concerned about listing premium coins in particular because I think some buyers are scared away from bidding.

 

Ooooh! Big topic, and one that deserves an individual thread. Yes, absolutely everything has changed. I would be willing to help out, but alas, I am working on dinner at the moment. If you could, please post another individual thread with your question. I will work on the answer when I have a bit of time.

 

The Stripe transaction was smooth and only about $4 more with the transaction fee and Visa international fee as compared to an international bank wire. $29 for shipping seems pretty steep, though.

This is my first purchase since I decided to consolidate my collection into fewer and higher quality pieces; with an emphasis on coins from the Archaic and Classical periods. Here's to hoping I don't regret this.

*just received a possible fraud notice from my Bank; stating they had screened this transaction as it was suspicious and facilitated in China. I said it was ok. :/

 

Has anyone got any shipping status yet?

 

Nope... and I paid on 6/25, receiving an email confirmation saying I'd receive a shipping notice within 7 business days (which was yesterday)

As efficient as the rest of their online presence is, I'm surprised they don't have shipping status and tracking info as part of a client's online profile.

 

Yeah it would be nice to see that on your profile. Hopefully they're able to ship them out soon.

 

I also paid immediately and have not received a shipping update. Honestly I am a bit upset, their buyers premium and shipping costs are both on the high end and 7 business days to get a package out is too long already. I liked the material, and I'm willing to cut a little slack on their first auction, but i won't be a repeat customer if they don't step it up.

 

Did I miss this discussion? If so, can someone point me in the right direction?

 

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/coin-market-in-the-last-decade-how-has-it-changed.298813/

 

Just got an email my package has been shipped.

 

Same here.

 

Just got mine too

 

Got mine as well. My final payment went through 3 days after the auction ended because of Visa cancelling my initial payment because of the automated fraud alert. So it seems they just have one big shipping party regardless of when payment was sent. I would have also hoped with the higher buyer's premium and $29 shipping flat rate that they would have shipped via FedEx. I've received coins from NAC, Lanz, and Nomos in 3-5 business days, stateside, via FedEx. I hope none of us have hold ups in customs via USPS. I'll see you guys in 2-3 weeks to post the winnings.