I just received a newsletter from Goldberg with a pompous header saying coin prices are on fire. As examples they have a decadrachm from Syracuse which tripled the estimate and an Antigonos tetradrachm which hammered 17 times the estimate. Ok the estimates were quite on the low side. But the decadrachm has just an 80s provenance with a visible gouge mark on the edge and possibly some smoothing behind the nymph's neck. The antigonos has as provenance an old European auction (without any further details!?) and some surface scratches. I find myself wondering one more time if there's something I don't get or is the market just going crazy....
They also only selectively reported the coins that exceeded estimates: there were a handful of Judaean coins at or below estimate or not selling and quite a few Greek/Roman either unsold or relatively cheap. I don't understand the dekadrachm price - I don't mind the gouge mark as much as I dislike the cleaning job. It was aggressively done and, based on the pictures, looks pretty disappointing overall with "dead" surfaces. The Doson was more in the $2K range in my eyes and now I look like a fool for selling a much nicer coin for $3K some years ago. I haven't asked around but I'm assuming that their Judea Capta aureus has some doubts associated with it as that not selling for $25K would be a surprise, even with the marks (if real, it's a far more expensive coin - it only "sold" for $28K at the New York Sale this past NYINC as well on a $35K estimate).
All auctioneers will brag about how well they do. I do see auctions results as high now, since way too many people have too much time on their hands and bored.
I bid on 3 lots there and only got one, above their estimate. But in that case the coin was misattributed so the estimate was not relevant.
Generally I agree that auction prices are rising, probably for the reasons enumerated above. Given this trend, some "deals" can be found on the fixed-price sites.
Some coins that go way over the estimates may have a hidden pedigree, especially when they show old toning. And since several high-end collectors now specifically target pedigreed coins, I expect we will see such "inexplicable" prices more often now.
@AncientJoe @Meander : thank you for your replies. I was actually the one who got the Antigonos coin. I wanted to get an objective opinion without the usual courtesy congratulations, therefore I agree with @AncientJoe that a normal price for this coin would be around 3000$. If the specific symbol (the star of Vergina) doesn't matter for you, with 8500$ you can rather get a superb EF or FDC specimen. In my case, I wanted to get it because of the symbol and it is possibly only the third example known. I was quite unfortunate that the coin had an old provenance (Ward collection) and I was hoping that no one would notice. Silly me, unfortunately at least 2 other bidders wanted it because of the provenance and I so had to significantly overpay so as to outbid them. The coin was very poorly presented in the auction description, there was no reference given (e.g. Panagopoulou has this coin with a erroneous photo, and the one of the british museum) and no weight is reported. The toning is not particularly pronounced for a coin that was dug up before the 1900s. The provenance noted was something generic "from an old European auction with tag". And actually this tag points to the passing of the coin from NAC E in 1995. Alas, it seems that the great forces have dedicated staff researching the provenance of each and every coin even in minor auctions. We (=normal collectors) are condemned :-( More photos and a write-up in due time
Congratulations with a beautiful coin, pprp. I now feel like a failure for not having bid 500$ for a Doson coin in this condition 10 years ago, at a local auction. At the same time, I sent 3 lowball bids on some nice Gothic florins at a Goldberg auction. According to the auction result, I should have won 2 of them. I wrote Goldberg, notifying them about this, but got a «I know nothing» answer a week later and no florins, although I had got bid confirmation through sixbid. Since that, I have not been part of pushing up prices at Goldberg auctions.
I have had that same head-banging experience myself, but for coins that were far, far cheaper. I'm sure you have plenty of company; there's always one that "got away."
Yeah. We rarely regret buying a coin, even if we overpay a little. It’s always not buying a coin that becomes regrettable. Funny, that.
I think I overpaid a little for my only ancient (my avatar). I had to sell about half my coin collection to buy it, but I am still very happy to own it. But I am not at all happy not to own the ones I never bought in the first place but now regret not buying! You are quite right!
I have been looking for one of these for so many years. The problem I had was that unlike so many coins both obverse and reverse had to be as nice as i could possibly get. Some of the obverse dies with that wonderful head of Poseidon are truly outstanding and that reverse design is stunning. I found this one at the NYINC last January and even though it isn't perfect It spoke to me and i bought it. Antigonos III Ar Tetradrachm HGC 1051 16.85 grms 30 mm Photo by W. Hansen
Looks like the Euainetos dekadrachm didn't end up selling after all (or maybe the buyer didn't pay?) https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=4086&lot=2010
I am not surprised... The cut on the edge is still not described but they mention that a layer of horned (lol) silver was cleaned.
Can't speak on this particular auction's prices per say, but since March, every auction I have participated in I have either witnessed or paid much higher prices for quality coins than in previous times.
I got one Sasanian Bahram IV eastern mint for 150!!! It was such a deal for me. I was expecting it to shoot up but did'nt
