As the title says, I’ve got a guilty conscience I hope the forum can help rid me of. I just received a package from Leu Numismatik and it’s their fully published upcoming auction catalogue. I really, really, really hope this is normal. I’ve never bought from them due to all my prior auction bids being outbid, although I do have bids outstanding in the current auctions I am still high bidder on. I also live in the US so I can’t imagine shipping these here was cheap! Is this actually Leu’s SOP for auction catalogues?! These are a work of beauty, and I hope I can keep them without feeling like they made a huge mistake sending them to me!
With this covid-19 thing being world-wide, it may just be their way to "drum up business" due to a decline. Once you are on mailing lists, you will occasionally get this type of solicitations.
Dang, I've asked these companies for their catalogs and they never send them to me. You guys have all the luck lol
European auction houses: "Due to COVID-19, we will have to charge €10 more for delivery to the US." Also European auction houses: "Here's 10 pounds of unsolicited auction catalogs, free of charge!"
Auction companies print a certain number of catalogs and send them to people they hope will bid. If you place a few hundred bids from these books and win half a dozen coins for $10k, you will get many more books. If not, the time you spend on the list may be limited. When I retired to a pension in 2003, I cut waaaaay back on coins for a couple years until I felt comfortable with the reduced income. In the next five years my mail went from one catalog a day on average to one a month as the word got around I was no longer spending. A few years ago, I bought $9000 in one sale and, miraculously, catalogs started coming. Today, the Internet listings make the catalogs a lot less important than they once were. How much would you pay for a stack of 100 catalogs from the last 20 years (since the same info is available online)? Subtract from that the postal costs of those 100 books and you will have the value of the items. I suspect that number will make you feel better. A scholarly book that size might cost $50 but last week's sale books only have appeal to people like me (and, I hope, you?). They are fun to read. BTW, If you are wondering what I want for Christmas, buy me the cover coin from Auction 7.
I love collecting books and that’s definitely transferred over to my numismatic hobby in the catalogue world! While the internet option likely allows for closer examination of images, nothing beats holding a catalogue in your hand! And I’m sure this is what sellers are hoping for but having the printed catalogue makes me want to acquire coins that exist in it more than if only the e-catalogue was available! And the coin on the cover would definitely be... well I’ll let one of my fav. LotR characters answer that:
I only have one catalogue. It was given to FFIVN and I after we purchased a few coins from the Harlan J. Berk "junk bin". I told him that there was unfortunately no way we could afford anything in the catalogue but he insisted we take it anyway. I felt guilty at the time. But now, if there is ever another live show that Harlan Berk has a table, we will most likely go purchase something from him. It has beautiful glossy photos along with descriptions in the front. I love flipping through it every now and then.
When I purchased my Pillar Dollar from the last bid or buy, a few weeks later I got a catalogue. It was my first time buying from the BOB. Yesterday my 3 coins I bought from the newest bid or buy arrived, I am sure a catalogue is in the mail.
I’m way ahead of you on the guilt. And I’m not even Catholic. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/auction-catalogs-and-ethics.303556/#post-2864291
Hi All, The catalog is also a lure as to what your nice coins might look like if consigned. - Broucheion
Leu is very generous in sending out catalogues. I've bought a handful of coins from them for never more than $200, and bid on many I didn't win, but they've been sending me catalogues regularly for over a year now!
Lol!! Glad to see I am not alone in finding myself in this exact same situation and feelings! That thread was good to read through
That is indeed their SOP. I received mine today and received catalogs from all of their previous auctions. I've bid in their online auctions and only a few times from the printed ones. Nonetheless, I'm still on their mailing list.