This morning CNG was ending and I had a couple things I was interested in. Well, I won an early one so I moved on to secondary targets and wanted at least one to spread out the shipping costs. I set alarms on my phone so I could put in last second bids. Unfortunately, my next target came up while I was driving. I know it’s been said many times before, probably goes back decades, : Don’t bid and drive! It’s dangerous, it’s dumb, it’s probably illegal and worst of all you’ll probably mess it up. My handle and password auto fill so all I needed was the dollar amount. 20 seconds left and I hit bid. “Non-numeric characters are not allowed” What? Erase, bid, enter. “Non-numeric characters are not allowed” Bidding closed. Dammit, I really liked the portrait on that one. Still want to win a second coin so I move on to target 3 which I won without any problems. Got the email invoice tonight and it turns out I won all 3. This is the second time I’ve won something when I thought I lost and then made a rebound purchase that I might not have otherwise made. Given the recent superstition thread, I’ll wait until I have the coins in hand to post pics but please share auction drama of your own. Jim
Congrats on the wins @H8_modern 3 for 3 is pretty darn good on a CNG eAuction as far as I'm concerned. I went 0 for 3 on Seleucid tetradrachms thanks to Clio. That makes 8 that I have lost to him in the last 3 months. While it confirms that I have good tastes in coins, I wish he would concentrate his energies somewhere else. I also went 0 for 3 on English coins, including a wrongly identified penny of Henry III. My only win was an medieval Italian coin that is completely out of my normal collecting interests, but looked really nice.
I am glad you got all three and I am looking forward to seeing them. As for auction drama I had one such episode last year. I was bidding in an online auction for a much wanted Caligula denarius. The auction day came and I was bidding live. I bid and the item closed. I was the high bidder or so I thought. I received an email fro the auction house telling me I had won the coin. I decided to double-check the item listing. When I checked I found out that the denarius had sold for 100.00 more than I bid. I knew something was wrong. I contacted the auction house and I was told that the auctioneer had gotten my bid and closed the item. However, someone on the floor wanted to bid after the item had closed and so the auctioneer reopened the bidding. The problem was I did not get the chance to bid higher which I would have done. The auctioneer reopened the item on the floor but not online. It took me a while but I finally managed to find another Caligula denarius.
@H8_modern I totally understand I have been in exactly same situation I had to pick up my brother once from airport and the steven album live auction was going and had to place live bids as i was driving such difficulty! I also lost few times the CNG lots I was badly into just because my manager booked an unexpected meeting right when the lots will close and I could not bid! Well things happens we can just hope similar items will show up later although I know each coin is unique in its beauty in terms of bust style toning etc...
by the way now that we talk on CNG auction I should say one of my not very good experience there. There was an Umayyad gold coin which I posted here and I got it from CNG the price was estimated 500 but the lot went up to 1400 Just because one dude was competing me so badly I hate when these fake competitions happens but at the same time I really loved the toning on that gold as you know most gold have no toning and cleaned and this one had beautiful tone so that was main reason I kept on bidding but it was a bit of mistake on my end.
The other ways of looking at it is that you go for really nice pieces that other people really want. Or I overpaid for the ones I got. Or I go for junk that nobody else wants. Just because you get a coin doesn’t mean you won.
I don't understand this last minute or last second bidding. I just put in my max bid and let it ride. If I'm out bid then so be it. This last second bidding and it's anxiety can't be healthy (blood pressure). When Clio out bids you more than likely he might be using a similair strategy to mine. In recent non E Auctions, my max bid was 3-8 times high estimate and my top bid was half of what it took to win the lot. This scenario plays out for me quite often. Over the last few auctions with Elsen, Keunker, Hohn to name a few I am a 25-35% winner. And unlike most of you I do not enjoy the hunt, OWNERSHIP is everything to me. Many things in life come down to "bragging rights" and that is how I collect coins. If only I had Eliasbergs resources.
So far I have been pretty lucky. So far in @John Anthony 's auctions I have fared well, including nabbing Balbinus and Pupienus' sestertii where I had to raise my bids in the last couple of minutes. Similarly, with Frank Robinson, I had to raise my bid on an Elagabalus Antioch tet in the last couple of minutes. I emailed Frank and he said "that's not high enough" so I bid about $50 more for the coin and fortunately won it. My only miss so far was a follis of Maxentius with the tetrastyle temple on the reverse, still looking for one of those.
Two responses to this. First, many auction houses, including CNG, routinely estimate coins on the low side. I suspect there's several reasons for this: reduces starting bids to encourage participation; reduces advances that auction house might be asked to pay consignors; increases bragging rights of hammer exceeding estimate. From the bidder' s perspective, it's important that you learn the true value of a coin before bidding, and don't rely on low estimates (unless you want to lose). Second, as others noted, the competition suggests the true value. The fact that at least one other collector was willing to pay nearly your hammer price speaks to the quality of the coin you bought.
With regards to CNG, I have only won one coin from their auction. Considering that I bid, got up and left for a half hour, and came back and checked what it sold for, I consider it nothing more than a miracle that I got it in the first place. Louis the Pious, AR Obole, Melle mint, 819-822. From the estate of Thomas Bentley Cederlind. He seemed like a nice person. I still need to get the corresponding denier.
I just noticed this since their auction stopped unexpectedly only a few lots from a lot I'm watching. I did a quick tally and he has won 32 lots for a total of 8,044 pounds/$10,500 before fees. Looks like they stopped on #359 which means he has won 9% of the entire auction already
I bid against myself in an auction once... By bidding at the last minute, I avoid the people who bidbidbidbid to be the highest bidder. That means I usually get the coin for much cheaper. But I also cheat and have a sniping program bid for me. No anxiety whatsoever
Package arrived today so it’s safe to post pictures now. This first coin just caught my eye. I really liked the horse and I like how everything fits on the irregular flan. THESSALY, Pharsalos. Mid-late 5th century BC. AR Hemidrachm (12mm, 2.90 g, 7h). Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet / Φ-A-P-Σ (partially retrograde), head of horse right; all within incuse square. Lavva 53 (V30/R33); BCD Thessaly II 664.2; HGC 4, 632. VF, toned, minor roughness, scrape on obverse. From the BCD Collection. This second coin is the one I thought I missed my chance. It has issues but I really like the portrait and how much detail there is on the statue. Decent centering but an unbalanced strike. The Triumvirs. Octavian. Autumn 30-summer 29 BC. AR Denarius (19.4mm, 3.46 g, 8h). Italian (Rome?) mint. Laureate head of Octavian, as Apollo, right / Rostral column ornamented with two anchors and six beaks of galleys, surmounted by a statue of Octavian, holding spear and parazonium. CRI 423; RIC I 271 (Augustus); RSC 124 (Augustus). VF, roughness, with some attempted smoothing on the obverse. And when I thought I needed a second coin, I went a little further afield from my standard targets. It’s a little later than I prefer but well preserved and I really like the reverse subject. Maximinus I. AD 235-238. Æ Sestertius (29.5mm, 19.27 g, 11h). Rome mint. 3rd emission, late AD 236-237. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / VICTO RIA GERMANICA, Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm frond; to left, bound captive seated left, head right. RIC IV 90; BMCRE 194-5; Banti 31. VF, green and dark brown surfaces, traces of red, a little smoothing. And here we have all 3 in my hot little hand so you can see their relative sizes. Thanks for checking back. Jim
You pulled over, right? Before you bid, you pulled over? You didn't play with your phone while you were driving down the road, right?
I’m 47, not 17 but thanks for your concern mom. Actually took longer than I expected to get this kind of comment since I was intentionally unclear on that point.
Your mom's a 39 year old guy? Well I'll be... And all your auction troubles would be moot if your head went through your windshield, or if you scrambled a family on the highway.
I never said I didn’t pull over. Do you not see how your post sounded like an overbearing mother? Asking questions repeatedly like a panicked yenta?
Very nice coins @H8_modern I especially like the hemidrachm of Pharsalos. The horse on the reverse is really nicely struck.
