Stages of an auction

It does.

It's odd, because half the time we seem to be worrying about the dearth of young collectors following behind us (The hobby is dying!) and then we find the next auction has strong prices, even though there are several auctions a week. Years ago serious collectors got on the (postal) mailing lists of a few firms, but the total number of auction-worthy ancient coins they saw in a year is probably less than anyone can now see every two weeks. Collectors were so excited to see a gorgeous (by the standards of the day) NFA catalog that would not hold a candle to the catalogs of many firms now. There are far more coins available to buy in auctions, but still they get bought.

A few wealthy people can explain high prices for the very top coins, but most auctions have many coins not near the top quality that, nevertheless, yield the sequence of thoughts @medoraman outlined. Maybe our hobby is not dying after all?

 

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Using myself as a proxy my generation has hit the early 30s when you start to feel like you actually have disposable income to spend on things like ancient coins. I hope the community is growing due to this!

 

Agreed. I'm in my early twenties and while I haven't had the opportunity to meet collectors my age, I suspect that I'm not the only one.

 

Well, nobody wanted this one, so 65 chf was enough to be high bidder.
Searching through sixbid archives and acsearch, I’ve found 9 different samples of this coin, with 3 different varieties (a,b,c).



There are no coin shows in Norway. Guess I’ll just have to endure buying at auctions.

 

Nice coin.

Btw sir, your were right about me suffering through Leu, but that is simply the latest. I did manage 6 lots in Pars, but that was against maybe 20 bids.

 

Lol this is all too familiar. As I am building my watch list from a new auction listing (or in the case of Roma, having to come back 100x to remember what I wanted because they do not have a watch function which is just utterly bananas at this point) im so excited to think of the coins I could win. Then as auction day approaches it helps me funnel my efforts into a few coins of the bunch that maybe I will still get at a decent price. Frustrating sure. But still a pile more fun than just ticking off boxes to order coins from online sites.

I have noticed a fair amount of younger (anywhere under 40) collectors at shows in the last dozen or so I have attended. I think the hobby may be healthier than we give it credit for. I do honestly believe that collectors really have a gene that is switched on which makes all slightly crazy for collecting. It’s such a hit or miss thing in people.

 

Thank you! That’s the only coin I got at the Leu.
I had high hopes for a Byzantine gold coin, but I simply won’t bid at those prices.
It will be interesting to see the development the next 1-2 years from now.

 

One approach that I've taken is to wait for the remainders, those lots that did not garner any bids, to go on sale. Every now and then a pretty good buy shows up.

As for bidding, yes, the day of the auction becomes a no man's land where emotions and deep pockets (for some) can lead to explosive results, at least regarding cash outlays for some lots. I try to focus on the lots that really matter, limiting them to maybe two or three. If I'm out bid, so be it, bidding wars are really not my game.

It is so easy to forget that hammer price does not include the buyer's fee, plus currency conversion in the case of foreign auctions.

 

Unsold lots can be a good place to find coins.
I picked up a 1 Semissis scale weight in the Leu auction. I bought an unsold coin of the same weight from Artemide eLive Auktion 13. Now I have to decide how to display the two together.

 

I placed probably over $7,000 worth of bids on a few dozen lots, got blown out of the water and unfortunately couldn't watch the lots I really wanted to win. Ended up with a nice Maxentius temple and an interesting lot of Eastern coins. I was outbid by at least 2 bidders and $199 on this lot, which honestly I wish I had increased my bid to win:



I'm hesitant to bid too crazy on Leu lots of Roman coins, because unlike many other auction houses, i have learned that they carefully arrange their lots to hide flaws. Not always, nor enough to accuse them of deceptive practices, but there is likely a good reason that the Hostilian and Claudius sestertii were not listed individually.

These were the two I did win, which I consider to be a relatively solid deal

 

@Finn235 If you find any Severans in that lot that you don’t want let me know. I always get blown out on the lots.

 

Nice wins.

I had my eye on that first one too. Most of my estimates were about 60%-80% of the final hammer price on the group lots that I was watching.

I was determined to get one of the lots advertised as: "From the collection of a Swiss scholar, formed over the past thirty years." However, I watched as each one climbed a few hundred CHF above my max bid.

Determined not to leave empty-handed, I impulse sniped this one in the last seconds.

I see a few Augusti reverses in there. With 61 pieces of silver(mostly hidden) and a handful of decent AEs, here's to hoping that there's a few more goodies buried, so that I don't get a case of severe buyer's remorse.

 

@Herodotus I think I see some nice coins in there. I think you could offload some of those and probably break even on the lot if you were so inclined.

 

I think so too.

The ANTIOCH COL ANTHIVS river-god reverse is a Severus Alexander(Antioch of Pisidia) I believe FWIW.

 

I couldn't express my pre/per and post auction feelings more accurately @medoraman, well spoken !

I have placed bids on two lots at the Leu auction, and been severely outbid on both. One started at 50 and ended at 460 CHF + fees, the other even worse started at 75 to end at 1700 CHF+ fees

I was naively thinking 5 to 6 times the starting price would be enough....you're allowed to laugh at me

Q

 

This was one of the lots that I knew from the start I wouldn't win, but felt like I had to try:

https://leunumismatik.com/en/lot/21/416



With the dig in the lower left, I figured it probably wouldn't go for too much over average (which is about $1200-1600) and I was the high bidder at 600 until the day before the auction. I happened to check my phone just 2 minutes before the lot closed and it was still at 950 - an absolute bargain for one of these. I decided to stay my hand "just in case" I won the lots i was still the high bidder on, so I wouldn't have to take out a loan to cover it all!

Anyway, in the last seconds of bidding, the lot hammered at CHF 4,000!

 

If that is even genuine, it has so many defects that it shouldn't sell more than 1500$ so your own estimate was a pretty fair one....

 

I am not a fan of timed online auctions, but I can see where they might be easier to run. I bid with 60 seconds left on lot 1544 and lost by one increment. I waited until about 10 seconds left and won the next 3 lots. I do not know if technique was why I won, or the first lot was more desirable (it was the only Greek coin turned into a scale weight in this auction).

 

Surely there must be a reason why Clio Clios at 2-3 seconds before closure.... So if a billionaire takes care of his money, why play large and let shill bidders play with your early bids?

 

I got an unexpected invoice today for this one, which I thought I lost!