Question about Bertolami Auction

Does Bertolami typically take a while to announce the winner? I see one of my lots from today says "Status:closed" and shows I'm winning, but doesn't say I won it despite the auction having ended. I've never used them before so I'm kind of confused how their auctions work, and whether I actually won. All I seem to get is a thank you message in Italian inviting me to a watch and jewelry auction next month.

 

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They will invoice you in a few days.

 

It was a multi-day auction and it just ended. I picked up a coin from the first day of this auction and when I log in to their site it shows the item in green and says I'm the winner. I didn't look there until just now because I bid live and knew I'd won it, so I'm not sure if it took a while for that status to be officially confirmed.

[Log in, click on "your offers" near the top right, and that is where you'll see your bids. That is where my bid shows in green and there's a green light under the "winner" category.]

You bought something from today's book auction? I hope you don't get killed on the postage.

 

You would never have this problem on ebay

 

I have no idea whether it ended yesterday or today. All I know is that I have the green light but no invoice yet. I guess that's coming.

I got miserably beat on two pricey coins despite putting in very competitive bids, but I guess I landed this quadrans which I never thought I'd actually win as I did not bid agressively on it at all. It's nice, but I'm a little bumed out I did not win at least one of the main lots I bid on.


Gaius (Caligula, 37-41). Æ Quadrans (17mm, 3.44g, 6h). Rome, 40-1. Pileus between S-C. R/ Large RCC. RIC I 52. About EF

 

I won a couple, one of which was hotly contested during the sale. I know I won it, but the final price they are showing is nowhere near what I had to bid. Hopefully it will all shake out as expected. Not my first time with them, but things are not as smooth of late.

 

Never won from them, but one time I put in a £250 bid on a coin I knew I wouldn't win, then received someone else's £800+ invoice for that coin - somehow the winning bid was billed to the wrong bidder ID. If you haven't heard from them in a few days, I'd check in that you aren't on the other side of such a mix-up.

 

Don't be bummed. These are nice little coins.

CLAUDIUS
AE Quadrans
OBVERSE: T I CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG – Modius
REVERSE: PON M TRP IMP P P COSII - Large S C
Struck at Rome, 42AD
2.6g, 16mm
RIC 90, BN 195, S 1865, C 72

AUGUSTUS
AE Quadran
OBVERSE: SISENNA MESSALLA IIIVIR, altar
REVERSE: APRONIVS GALLVS AAAFF around SC
Rome 5 BC , Moneyers Apronius, Galus, Messalla, and Sisena
3.0g, 17mm
RIC 463 or 200 in Old RIC

 

Wow, had no idea these quadrans were all so pretty. Besides the Caligula one, I was familiar with the one from Claudius. But I don't remember the Augustus one you have. Very pretty indeed.

You make it tempting to want to add more in the future. Wouldn't be a bad idea. I could also probably use a few more quinarius too, and I still need my first Dupondius. Just goes to show how broad Roman coinage is, that I have nearly 100 Roman coins and I still have so many gaps in so many categories.

 

The Augustus Quadran was the second Ancient coin I ever purchased. I may have paid too much, but I've never been displeased with it. I have several other Quadrans, but none as nice as that Augustus:

AUGUSTUS
AE Quadran
OBVERSE: LAMIA SILIVS ANNIVS, clasped hands holding caduceus
REVERSE: III VIR A A A F F around large S C
Rome 9 BC
3.0g, 15mm
RIC 420, BMC 200, S 1693

CLAUDIUS
AE Quandran
OBVERSE: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG around hand holding pair of scales above PNR
REVERSE: PON M TR P IMP COS DES IT around S C
Struck at Rome, 41AD
2.8g, 15mm
RIC 85, Cohen 71, BMC 174

ANONYMOUS
Æ Quadrans
OBVERSE: Winged petasus
REVERSE: S-C, winged caduceus
Struck at Rome, Late 1st-mid 2nd century AD
15mm, 2.36g
RIC II 32

TRAJAN
AE Quadran
OBVERSE: IMP CAES TRAIAN AVG GERM, diademed bust of Hercules right with lion-skin on neck
REVERSE: Boar walking right, SC in ex.
Struck at Rome, 98-117 AD
2g, 14mm
RIC 702

TRAJAN
AE Quadrans
OBVERSE: IMP CAES NERVA TRAIAN AVG, laureate head right, slight drapery on far shoulder
REVERSE: She-wolf crouching left, SC in ex.
Struck at Rome, 98-117 AD 2.6g, 16mm
RIC 694, Cohen 340, BMC 1061

 

I have won a few lots from BFI. It normally takes a day or two after the last day of the auction to receive an invoice. Once the invoice went to my spam folder and I did not catch it. A week later, I asked to use PayPal and they said yes. All of this took another week or two. Then they missed my PP transfer. About a month later they shipped the following coin. All of my other lots shipped much faster.
That coin - a Claudius / scale Quadrans like Bing's coin.

 

Sorry you didn't reel in the big un.
Ca-live ca-learn...

 

That hand always reminds me of a certain green fellow's hands.

 

Just a heads-up that you have to really watch for unmentioned tooling on Bertolami bronzes.

 

Thanks for the heads up, though for the coin I won I don't think tooling is really an issue. But I'll definitely keep it in mind when bidding in the future.

 

I don't see any obvious issues with it either, but it would probably be advisable to check it out with a microscope at some point.

 

You have to watch out for many things in sales by Bertolami, formerly known as Art Coins Roma. Now, why would an auction house change it's name and brand? Do some research and you'll figure it out.

 

Agreed. I've had nothing but pain with them: fake coins, including adjusting invoice prices because the GBP fell more than they wanted, having to argue about which lots were shipped... they are on my blacklist now; there are too many good firms available.

 

Oddly enough the only reason I bid with them is because they were listed in the recent thread about which auction houses you'd recommend, and two members mentioned them as auctionhouse worthy of checking out. And now everyone is screaming that my little quadrans is the worst tooled fake they've ever seen, and no one has anything nice to say. LOL.

 

Well, I provided some subtle feedback on Bertolami, without naming them, on that prior thread. Clearly, I was too subtle! Sorry.