Zeus Numismatics

Hi,

there is this auction house who showed up on Biddr at the end of 2019.
They mainly sell ancient and medieval coins.

Does anyone have experience with them?

You see, I have won and paid a coin, but nothing came out of it. While I
understand the current COVID-19 pandemic will cease any coin circulation
worldwide, nothing stops the auction host to acknowledge both the payment
and follow-up emails. Thing is: the host replied before the auction took place, albeit
in broken and very cursory english. Hence, the email delivery explanation cannot be the reason for getting radio silence. I did send another generic question anonymously from another email address...and received another reply. What is going on?

I am very confused and Biddr is apparently not liable, meaning they cannot
mediate.

I am hoping other users might shed light on their own experience with this coin dealer.

 

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I'm not familiar with this firm.

I checked their website at http://zeusnumismatics.com/ and it seems kind of makeshift. If you have not received your lot by now, for an auction held in late 2019, something's not right, the current pandemic notwithstanding.

Ian McCarty is their numismatist, apparently. Did you try contacting him?

Did you pay through Paypal or credit card? For Paypal you can always file a case, or a claim with your credit card. The fact that you have not received the lot, plus that lack of communication from Zeus is enough of a basis to move ahead with Paypal or your credit card company.

 

I won couple of coins on their previous auction. Was very happy with their very low premium and reasonable shipping price. It took them a week to send the coins and I received them in Massachusetts after two more weeks in mail. No problems whatsoever. I did not, however, try to contact them, so I don't know if they are responsive. One note, though. Some of the coins they sell are heavily tooled, and they don't disclose it in their descriptions. But, the pictures are of high quality, certainly enough to tell if the coin worth your bid. Overall positive experience, I will bid there again if they list something in my field.

 

Im glad I am not the only one. I won a couple of coins in their previous auction, and still my coins are not even shipped. First it toke them 2 weeks to confirm my payment and then I sent a couple of emails and everytime I hear that they will send the coins soon or there is complete radio silence like you. Luckily I paid with PayPal. I am waiting a few days and try again with email, otherwise I'll just contact PayPal. Even with Corona this is not the way to go, communication is very important in these days. I do not mind waiting for it to be shipped, but they need to be clear, rather than complete radio silence.

 

My first and only experience with them - got a few coins on their Prime Auction 5, held on 15 March. Got the invoice and paid it on 16 March. Got the coins yesterday. Coins were delivered from Belgium. I believe covid restrictions came into force in UK/Belgium after the auction; Belgian Post has a banner that its activity is affected. Probably dealer's activity is also affected. Worst case, people are in hospital (just saying as a possibility). Maybe this is a dealer who does not respond (I know a good German example). Coins were as per picture, so buy what you see, not what is advertised (one coin was misattributed, it was close, though). I will buy from them again if they'll sell an interesting enough coin.

Just wait a few more weeks. These days you should not expect business as usual from small dealers. If no tracking is activated and they still do not react, you still have the Paypal or credit card claim option.

 

I bought a few times in their auction. If anything their shipping was unuaually fast, usually 2-3 days after confirmation of payment. A coin I won in their latest auction (15-3) is temporarily lost in the covid-void, but the shipments track & trace is activated, so I have no doubt it will turn up eventually. So I'm satisfied with Zeus so far.
(But their attribution is often lackadaisical, as catadc, said. Even I, not an expert collector at all, can tell trey are sometimes wrong).

Also, they have another auction scheduled for tomorrow (11-4), so they seem to be alive & kicking.

In my experience communication is often deplorable with a number of auction houses on Biddr, especially post auction. But that's another story.

Hope everything works out for you, Napata.

 

My prime auction 5 lots shipped on the 21st. I haven't had any issues with them.

 

I bought many times from them without any problems. Their buyers fees are very reasonable (14%) as well as shipping cost. As said previously, some of their coins are heavily tooled. I ask them if they know about it and their answer was: these are not our coins, we only consigne them...About the February and March auction, I didn't receive anything yet. They answered me yesterday :"Yes, we sent the cargo but they are on hold because of the virus".

 

Had only good experience with them. As with many firms these days, shipping is somewhat erratic. Descriptions are not the most erudite, often incomplete and uncertain, but always appear honest.

 

This is the message I received when I contacted them about when they would ship a coin I won:

Your product has been sent via Belgium registered cargo. ( As ever )
Unfortunately, Belgium has bans on viruses. Your product will reach you
when the prohibitions are lifted.

 

I bought 8 coins from them in the last Prime auction. They shipped promptly. The only bad part of the experience was opening the envelope to find my coins all smashed together in a small zip lock bag, with nothing to keep them from rubbing against each other in transit. There was no discernable damage, but if they were higher end coins this would be concerning.

 

There are may things we might use to separate the good sellers from those that you will not patronize again. Care in packing, communications and being pleasant to deal with outrank having the best coins IMHO. Many of you disagree since we keep seeing posts about your doing business with the wrong kind of sellers. I do hope none in the coin business are suffering from the illness (having it, not losing business) but I hope all are watching and will remember who was reasonable even after we return (if we return?) to normal.

 

If that's their usual practice, I would never buy from them no matter how nice their coins might be. One bad experience with a carelessly-packaged coin (from a different seller) that arrived in pieces was more than enough for me.

 

I have no complaints about their packaging, although I only had 2 coins in that shipment.

 

+1 to this. IMO, if you don't have a problem with them otherwise, slow shipping is not really something I'd worry about right now. Even slow communication can be excused due to the sheer magnitude of the pandemic situation. They're probably getting a lot more inquiries right now, so I'd give them a break.

QUOTE="Ignoramus Maximus, post: 4333593, member: 104741"]In my experience communication is often deplorable with a number of auction houses on Biddr, especially post auction. But that's another story.[/QUOTE]

This is actually the story I'm interested in. Why Biddr in particular? Is Numisbids not similarly affected? What about Sixbid? I know there's a lot of overlap among the three.

 

This is my first time dealing with them . I won four coins on prime 5 auction . I paid on the same day after receiving the invoice . It took them ten days to send it out . I don’t see the big deal with the delivery delays, it’s understandable with the COVID 19 situation. Only what I can’t understand is, why do they still send coins via postal service few days after restrictions was placed ??? Why not send them with FedEx or DHL ? I’m willing to pay the extra fees. I just got a package from Germany yesterday, it was sent in the beginning of April. By the way, from the previous posts, it seems that all mail from the prime 5 auction were sent from Belgium, but mine is coming from the Netherlands .

 

This is actually the story I'm interested in. Why Biddr in particular? Is Numisbids not similarly affected? What about Sixbid? I know there's a lot of overlap among the three[/QUOTE]

I mentioned Biddr simply because that's the portal I use most. Many houses there (but not all) don't bother to reply to queries (questions about the coins, attributions etc,) once I've bought the coins. At least that's my experience. I can't speak for other portals/auction houses.
I didn't mean to single out or cast aspersions on Biddr. I apologise if my post led you to believe that.

 

Many of my coins have come from overseas dealers and/or auctions. I have never purchased from them. I regret I have no experience to give.

 

Numisbids will forward your bids to the vender or link to the listing but they don’t actually serve as an auction platform. Biddr in contrast is an auction platform through which you can bid and pay.

 

I've only participated in a Zeus auction once, so I can only speak about that single experience I had with them. This was before COVID started disrupting international postal services, and the coins were taking a little longer than expected arriving, so I wrote to them. The correspondence went something like this:

12 Dec 2019
Me: Hi, I just paid for this invoice. Please let me know when you've shipped the coins.
Zeus: [silence]

4 Jan 2020
Me: Hi, it's been awhile and I haven't received the coins. Could I have a tracking number so I can check on the package?
Zeus: [silence]

10 Jan 2020
Me: Just dropping a note to let you know that the coins just arrived today.
Zeus: [silence]

I was glad the coins finally arrived, but I haven't browsed a Zeus auction since then and doubt I will be going forward.