Stages of an auction

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by medoraman, May 31, 2020.

  1. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    I am wondering if this sounds familiar to others:

    30 days out - OMG, I am going to buy SO much. I wonder if the mailman will get a hernia carrying the package!

    10 days out - Man, bids are so cheap, I wonder if the bank would entertain a second mortgage for coin purchases!

    2 days out - ok, a few are getting higher, but man bargains still abound. I wonder if the spouse will notice...

    Day before - some adjustments necessary, but still some great lots for the collection

    Day of - what happened? Did everyone wake up today wanting ancient coins? It's ok, I have a plan on some to pursue.

    During auction - WTF? Zero for 12 so far, most of my bids are laughable.

    5 minutes after auction - yeah, not the auction for me anyway. Not the right material, I am pretty sure a few of them at least were tooled. Besides, auction X is coming up in 30 days, I need to save up for THAT one. THAT one is where I will score.

    Repeat step 1 on auction X, rinse and repeat.

    This has been my life it seems for the last couple of months. :(
     
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  3. AncientJoe

    AncientJoe Well-Known Member

    Couldn't have said it better myself!
     
    Inspector43 likes this.
  4. thomas mozzillo

    thomas mozzillo Well-Known Member

    Too familiar! I've been on that merry-go-round a few times.
     
    Inspector43 likes this.
  5. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    These days, I don't even browse the catalogues until the day of the auction itself, but I still seem to go through ALL the stages you described. WTH? :grumpy:
     
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  6. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    :) Sounds like you may have been following the Leu?
    My watch list on that auction was long. I ended up not placing a single bid.

    Like you say: Repeat step 1. The last ancient coin hasn’t been sold yet.
     
    Inspector43 likes this.
  7. Pavlos

    Pavlos You pick out the big men. I'll make them brave!

    Happened exactly to me with the last Leu auction, sounds way too familiar.
     
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  8. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Been there too many times :mad:.
     
    capthank likes this.
  9. Limes

    Limes Well-Known Member

    That's a perfect description!

    Every now and then, however, there is an extra step, after the '5 minutes after auction' step. When, after the auction, I (with a unhealthy amount of frustration in me) browse various sellers' stock and decide to purchase a coin I have my eyes on for a while but have not pulled the trigger thinking I can get a coin via auction cheaper :)
     
  10. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I hope you realize that the success of sales depends on many people actually thinking they will have a chance at winning a coin but being frustrated to the point that their contribution is only running up the price paid by the winner. After this happens enough times, many will lose interest and determine that it is a waste of their time and energy. Of course that means missing out on a few coins that no one else wanted. That will tend to drive us to other sources. I preferred the coin show route; others seek smaller auctions no frequented by the people with the money. I recently decided to pay an online dealer more than I wanted to because I have saved quite a bit now that there are no coin shows. This is the system working as intended.

    The question I see is whether there is an infinite supply of new participants both from the well funded winners group and from the hopeful but mostly unsuccessful group to keep this going or if there is a bubble ripe for bursting. I see no shortage of people with money but more depends on how many people will continue to buy lottery tickets even after they have read the odds.
     
  11. pprp

    pprp Well-Known Member

    The junkies will always come back to the dealer
     
  12. ToughCOINS

    ToughCOINS Dealer Member Moderator

    I'm no ancients collector, but I thoroughly understand cause and effect.

    Your observations are of a market experiencing a major resurgence in collector interest, attributable primarily to the COVID-driven increase in time available for such activities, and secondarily to a diversion from "modern coins", which seem over-valued, to ancients which seem a better value to many.
     
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  13. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Way too familiar
    [​IMG]
     
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  14. Restitutor

    Restitutor Well-Known Member

    Specifically for my own desires Lot 1106 :drowning: starting price 75CHF current bid 1,300CHF. This game is getting a tad much for me :lurking:
     
    spoon likes this.
  15. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    With a lot of auctions, not much of anything happens until the moment the item comes up for bidding. Then the numbers go into orbit, especially if it's an item upon which I have placed a bid.

    A number of these bidders will pay far more than if the same item where to be offered on a bourse floor. I remember one time at a Baltimore show where a number of people were commenting about how much some Indian Cents brought in the prior night's auction. I thought, "Gee, these coins must really be hot. I guess I will be priced out of that series." Then I looked at the market in the comming months and years, and not much had changed. The price chugged along or even fell.

    Some of the auctions give false positives to the true state of the market.
     
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  16. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    I think this all stems from a fundamental character flaw: self-control. Beat that, and the sky's the limit, at least until the money runs out...
     
  17. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    I have lost in a number of auctions in the exact sequence you describe. Those lots I have won I have had to go to several times the starting bid price, and I was in danger of being sniped in the last few minutes until I raised my bid to the point where I would outgun anyone else. Not exactly satisfying but I got some of the coins I had craved.
     
  18. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Leu was NUTS this weekend. People paying more for coins that are -- quite literally -- available at full retail on V Coins for half the price.
     
    spoon, DonnaML, Shea19 and 3 others like this.
  19. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Case in point @Roman Collector - the Diocletian Abdication follis that went for $800. I found one on m-a shops (fixed price) for a fraction of that amount.
     
    Roman Collector likes this.
  20. rrdenarius

    rrdenarius non omnibus dormio Supporter

    This is me! When caught, I buy yarn or chocolates. You can see I have been a bad boy.
    20200531_102822[1].jpg 20200531_102815[1].jpg 20200529_113813[1].jpg 20200528_095430[1].jpg DSCN4181.JPG
    The tray of donuts was a special order for a graduation party that was worth sharing.

    I am happy when I find one or two coins others do not want as much as me. My goal in an auction is to find one or two pieces I really want and can not find elsewhere. The last two months have placed several pieces I have not seen before offered. I picked up a few of them and feel really good about that. It is pretty common for me to see new cast bronze coins. Fortunately, not too many folks want them.
     
  21. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    Yours was from a different mint and, probably most important in this circumstance, not ex-Benito; who a lot of people remember and might want a coin from his collection.
     
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