For sale on ebay-seller says this is one of only two known?

Hey there, @vlaha! Long time no see. Welcome back

 

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Ha ha, nice to see that there are still familiar faces active. I'll be spending a bit more time on CT for the next few months now that I have secured a more easily accessible way to access it (Tapatalk). Looking forward to seeing more ancients.


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As a 30 year collector of Greek coins my observation is that myself and most fellow collectors of these coins care mostly about the artistic style, strike and condition of a coin and very little about minor varieties like magistrate symbols and such. Even left facing versus right facing rarities do not usually command any premium. Rarity of a die combination does not command a premium unless those are much better style dies. I have several Elis staters that are 1 of 3 known and there was no price premium for that rarity. Why not? Well there are 100 other die parings with Hera and a thunderbolt that are equally good style. Very few Greek collectors are trying to get all 100 die combinations. Most people want one nice example and then move on to the 10,000+ (literally) other Greek coin types.

Imagine if there were 10,000 different types of US half dollars? With completely different major devices. How many people who care about minor varieties of one type?

My take on the coin: its ugly, in poor condition, there are 100 better examples of Celendris staters available, and the seller has no clue.

John

 

Who the heck graded this at NGC? a 4/5 strike? in whose world? I have looked at this type of coin for almost a dozen years. I have bid on dozens and THE ONLY grade on this coin that makes sense is the F (fine) and the 2/5.

Don't buy slabbed coins. It is the biggest scam going in ancients.

I watched David Vagi on Pawn Stars, just recently, eye grade a group of coins (US coins,) told them the price.....and then told everyone that the pawn shop owner would need to spend about $500 grading the coins "offically" by NGC before he could sell them. So he low balled the price the seller could get, so he could fit in the $500 'grading" charge and make the whole thing look like a fair deal. Only the seller was going to get hurt in this transacton.

This is just another example, of and endless stream, of junk marketing, about the imaginary value of an NGC graded slab for ancients.

You were smart to ask here first.

BTW Fun fact. NGC stands for Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (est 1987).................yet it offers no guaranty on ancients. Chew on that for awhile/

 

My experience has been that collectors come in all variations but do not usually care all that much about price premiums since they are after what they are after and not trying to make a buck. I have known collectors who only have coins of one city. They know that some are 'better' style but they have to collect the lesser ones as well to represent the period of lower grade workmanship that their target city experienced. A fine example of this is the silver of Syracuse. Over the span of time, they made many really lousy coins and many great beauties.

I see no blanket statement that covers 'collectors'. Investors and dealers (including dealer wannabes) fit Theodosius' observations better because their interest is not in coins but in resale potential. The difference I see is not what the person buys but why they buy it. An exception might be made for collector/students who write a book and then dump the collection like a hot potato. It is always possible for one person to play in more than one game or change status in time but persons who pay what must be paid to buy what 'must' be had for whatever reason do not fit cookie cutter descriptions. I am aware of more than one buyer who has already arranged for the accumulation to be given to a museum and who only buys what that institution 'needs'. Like those who have no intention of being alive to see their catalog, prices realized is not a prime factor for them.

I most certainly agree that rarity has no bearing on price. If it did, something like EID MAR denarii would cost less than a thousand boring and cheap coin types. Demand is everything. A unique coin is only of value if there are two people who care not including the person who now owns the thing. One hard thing about being a specialist collector of of something really unusual is knowing that no one even wants to see your rarities, let alone desire to own them.

 

I am not a dealer, investor, or a wannabe.

Thank you.

My interest in Greek coins is to appreciate their artistry. It helps to have a coin in a condition where that artistry can be observed. Not one where the devices have been worn off or corroded. I would rather have a VF or better condition coin of a common variety than an F condition coin of some rare variety (of the same type). I don't think I am alone among Greek collectors in this approach. I am sure there are collectors who do want every single die variety of this or other cities. BCD comes to mind. That does not make them or myself "dealers, investors or wannabes."

I don't plan to ever sell my coins unless I get a specimen I like better, another common practice among collectors.