Second Chances

I recently received the below Galba aureus which I purchased privately last month, after skipping it in Triton in January. While I contemplated the coin in Triton, I decided to pass as it lacked a pedigree. However, just a day after the sale, I found the piece in Montagu. I was informed the coin had been purchased by a dealer, but was being offered at a price significantly above hammer and fees. I kept an eye on the piece in the intervening ten months, and several times was on the verge of pulling the trigger. Finally, I was motivated to make a "reasonable" offer after stumbling across the piece again in VJE Ryan. Thankfully, that offer was accepted!

Has anyone else experienced "non-buyer's" remorse and been fortunate enough to find and purchase a coin they regretted passing on in the inventory of a dealer?




Emperors of Rome. Galba. 68-69 AD. 68-January 69 AD. AV-Aureus 7.26 g. Rome Mint.


Obverse: IMP SER GALBA AVG, bare head right


Reverse: S P Q R/ OB C S in two lines within oak wreath


References: RIC I 164; Calicó 509; BMCRE 29-30; BN 72-4; Biaggi 265; Jameson 53; Mazzini 286.


Grade: Almost extremely fine with a portrait of unusually artistic style. A few light scratches to reverse. Light reddish toning.


Provenance: Privately Purchased, October 2020. Ex Provence/Brexit Collection Triton XXIII (January 2020), lot 679; V. J. E. Ryan Collection (Part IV, Glendining, 20 February 1951), lot 1669; Sir Hyman Montagu (Rollin & Feuardent, 20 April 1896), lot 172.


Description: Galba served as Emperor for seven months in 68-69 AD. His reign was not a distinguished one, and was marked by corruption and summary executions. This was surprising from a man who had lived a full and distinguished life prior to his ascension. Galba was of an old and distinguished line, the Gens Sulpicia, and was one of the Empire’s wealthiest men. Galba held numerous important government posts, and was in the inner-circles of many important clans, including the Julio-Claudians. Galba began his association with the Julio-Claudians with a pinch on the cheek from Augustus when he was a child, and was well acquainted with each of his successors. Agrippina Junior was apparently infatuated with him, and he enjoyed especially close friendships with Claudius and Livia. Suetonius tells us Livia made Galba her principal heir, leaving him 500,000 aurei, but that Tiberius nullified her bequest on a technicality, reducing the amount to only 5,000. Prior to ascending to the purple, Galba was Governor of Hispania, and before that, had held governorships in Aquitania and Africa. By the time he ascended, Galba’s best years were behind him, and he suffered from chronic gout and increasing bodily decline. Ultimately, he would be usurped by his erstwhile supporter, Otho, the former governor of Lusitania, who Galba had passed over for adoption as his heir.

 

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What a beauty!!! Impressive. It definitely was waiting for you

 

A magnificent aureus, breathtaking ! Double die match with NAC 97 (from the Bosco Reale Hoard of 1895).

 

That is indeed stunning, @Cicero12! What a wonderful addition to your collection. I'm glad you were able to track down its pedigree.

 

Your Galba is absolutely gorgeous @Cicero12 and has an impressive provenance ....I do not actively search for coins with extensive provenances, mostly because that doesn’t align with my budget, though I do have a few coins with good provenances. I was in a similar predicament...There was a solidus I saw at auction earlier this year that I passed up. I instantly regretted my decision, and when saw it in Roma XX I knew I that had to have it. I won it for almost double of its original hammer price (when conversion is accounted for). I definitely think I “overpaid”, but after letting the coin go once, I didn’t think I would have another opportunity. Needless to say lesson learned!

 

Fantastic coin! What a portrait it has. Congrats on not letting it get away.

 

I think most of us, being collectors, have much more "non-buyers remorse" than buyers remorse. Money is just money, but coins are more memorable. I passed on two coins at CNG yesterday, as they both got many multiples above estimate and I am already regretting it.

 

very nice coin and kool story!

 

It’s always nice when you get a second bite at the apple! A shame it went for more than the original price, but it’s a great feeling to finally get a coin you missed out on!

 

This is a fantastic example! Unfortunately, it was purchased by an “investor” and resold for a ludicrous sum.

 

Congratulations on a truly stunning example! Coins always seem to find their way to the correct owner even if they take a circuitous path. Some of my favorite coins started as my greatest regrets for missing, being outbid, or not bidding on them. I either need to start being more aggressive or continue deferring to the coin gods as they seem to treat me fairly.

The following three stories happened at the New York International show: I will greatly miss not attending it this year! But, in looking through the rest of my collection, I have a further 12+ instances where a coin found its way to me after initially missing it.

I've often complained about lot sequencing in auctions and this Rhegium tetradrachm is a great example of why. I had some very hefty earlier bids in the sale and knew that if I bought one of them, I wouldn't be able to afford the Rhegium. I was successful and skipped the coin which ended up selling for a very reasonable price. Fast forward to the NYINC show the next year, the collector who bought it passed away and the coin was in the auction house's case for private sale and I snatched it up:




This Kimon dekadrachm truly jumped out of the case to me at a NYINC show: it isn't signed but I prefer its style over the Kimon-signed dies. Alas, I couldn't afford it at the time and had to pass. Then, a few years later, it came up for auction with a very strong estimate and didn't sell. A couple weeks after the sale, I contacted the dealer who owned it and made a "low but not insulting" offer on it and it was mine!



Two years ago, I was walking the NYINC floor on the "early bird" day and spotted a great coin at one of the first tables I passed but wanted to canvas everything before making a decision. I stopped after 10 minutes, still thinking about the coin, and returned to the table only to find it was already sold.

Fast forward a few months and I was visiting a dealer in London and saw the same coin in their tray... they had purchased it! After giving them a reasonable markup, it finally found its way to me, although that was my most expensive 10 minute mistake:

 

@AncientJoe truly beautiful coins! That Rhegium is a show-stopper.

Sometimes you don’t realize what you could have had until it’s gone, but at least they found their way back!

 

This is an outstanding coin -- if there are any "light scratches to reverse" they certainly are unobtrusive -- especially since it's so difficult to find appealing Galba portraits on his aurei. Rome-mint Galba portraits are much more refined than those from other mints such as Tarraco (I should know!). Glad to see it ended up in a stellar collection!

 

Thanks! There are some light horizontal scratches that aren’t really visible in the photo, but are a bit more visible in hand. All told, it’s a worthwhile trade off for the uncharacteristically nice portrait and great pedigree.

 

The provenances of the Galba aureus-who are they?
Will somebody be pleased that their coin was part of the internationally famous later researcher on the Athens NewStyle known as NewStyleking/Cicerokid/John Nisbet collection? Would they pay a premium?
Now if it was owned by Cardinal Wolsey or somebody really famous eg Kim Kardashian but those?
Now Boscoreal is a good one-a famous excavation and a fire toned distinctive patina-that's provenance indeed.
Nice coins BTW.

 

I've shared this one here before but it is by far my favorite "second chance" coin in my collection. It has a great provenance that means a lot to me, and many of us here at Cointalk. I first saw this coin at the end of 2015 in CNG e-auction 364. I really liked it and it was on my bid list but I simply didn't have the money for it by the time it got there as I'd won another coin and even if I did it hammered above my predetermined max bid and was bought by @stevex6, a former member here. I regretted not bidding, and was always a bit envious when Steve posted the coin here, so when he consigned his collection for sale a few years later I knew exactly which coin I wanted.

Thankfully everything was listed fixed price so I didn't have to try to compete for it at auction, even if the price was basically the same that was too much for me a few years before. I also found the Knobloch provenance, a very desirable one for RR coins, while doing my pre-purchase research which further cemented my "I've gotta buy this coin" feelings.

Aside from the fact that it was owned by a friend, this coin is really special not because it's the nicest CA Triens out there, but because they basically come in two flavors: those where you can prominently see the undertype(which is usually this type or one related type), and those where the overstrike has obliterated it and you can barely make any of it out. Usually the coins where you can see the undertype are an ugly mess, but this coin manages to capture the undertype quite well while still retaining a very attractive overstrike. If I'm buying a type that is commonly overstruck on something else I will always opt for an example with a clear overstrike so for me this is a perfect example and unimprovable.



Roman Republic Æ Triens(20mm, 5.88g, 12h), anonymous("CA" series), 209-195 B.C., Canusium(?) mint. Helmeted head of Minerva right; above, •••• / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, ••••; to right, CA. Crawford 100/3; Sydenham 309c
Overstruck on Oiniadai, Akarnania Zeus/Acheloüs, cf. BCD Akarnania 345-348 for undertype. For CA triens overstruck on Oiniadai cf. Hersh NC 1953, 14 and cf. Crawford Table XVIII, 91
Ex @stevex6 Collection via coin.ages, eBay, January 27 2018, ex RBW Collection, CNG e-auction 364, December 2 2015, lot 90, ex Stacks Coin Galleries, August 20 1986, lot 117, ex Frederick S. Knobloch Collection, Stacks May 4 1978, lot 90

 

That truely is a beautiful coin. Congratulations. I can imagine why it stuck with you, after you initially missed it.

Yes and no. For the coinpond im fishing in, there's generally always another coin. Surely, I do regret it if I'm outbid. And due to budget limitations I too often have to chose between two or more coins I really would like to bid in, ultimately ending up with only one, or none.

Provenance and pedigrees are a peculiar thing. I understand that one would like to know the famous hands that have handled a several-thousand-dollar-coin, and that a good provenance can influence the value of a coin.
But what suprises me, is that the lesser coins generally completely lack a provenance. I mean, surely, a common, VF Marcus Aurelius denarius is unlikely owned by some Royal, but at one time it either had 1) a collector-owner, or 2) came out of the ground somewhere. Why are there generally zero mentionings of the history of common coins? Even if it was owned by someone 'ordinary' (I hate saying this because I truly believe everyone matters equally!)
So, for this reason, I have decided to leave the ones who will take care of my coins after I'm gone, with a good provenance: not only do I always the note the seller I got a certain coin from, they are all part of the official 'Limes Collection'. Every coin I have ends up in a book i'm writing: where I got the coin from, a description of the event, ruler etc on it, and why I like it. The official guide on the Limes Collection.

Sorry for the long post...

 

That’s a lovely example of the type, well done!

 

In recent years, it seems provenances have become increasingly important. While they were previously "nice to know," they now have a marked impact on a coin's value. I have seen Aurei sold with no pedigree go for twice the price when a pedigree is later found. Personally, I value the pedigrees for two reasons. The first is historical interest (I like learning about the former owners) and the second, is that I enjoy knowing the piece was not "recently" looted or otherwise procured in violation of current antiquities laws. Of course, this is less of a concern when working with reputable dealers, but everyone makes mistakes.

Short bios on these collectors below:

Hyman Montagu:

Born into a British Jewish family, Hyman Montagu (formerly Moses), was a prominent London attorney who developed a strong bankruptcy practice. Montagu was an eclectic collector,, beginning with beetles, and then moving on to English hammered and milled coins. Montagu then turned his attention to Roman coins, and purchased large portions of the Ponton D’Amencourt’s collection in 1887. He would begin collecting Greek coins in 1889. He acquired the entire inventory of the Parisian dealer Hoffmann when he retired in 1893, was in direct contact with most European dealers, and travelled extensively. His Roman gold coins were auctioned by Rollin & Feuardent in April 1896, for a total of 363,004 francs. His collection contained 1291 pieces of Roman gold, the largest until Biaggi, and contained pieces of exceptionally high quality. Montagu did a great deal for Britain's numismatic community, most notably, (i) inviting William Webster to join Spink in 1892 (ii) and donating an extremely large group of exceptional aurei to the British Museum. Spink and Sotheby’s, held numerous auctions to disperse of Montagu’s Greek and English holdings. It is very likely that Montagu’s collection would have been even more impressive if not for his untimely demise at the age of 50.

Valentine John Eustace Ryan:

V.J.E. Ryan’s collection of coins was sold in 1952 by English firm Glendining’s. Ryan’s collection consisted not just of an impressive selection of Roman gold coins, but also Roman silver, Greek, and English coins. The Ryan sales have been consistently listed as some of the most important 20th century sales of Roman gold and silver coins. Aside from his notable coin collection, Ryan was also a retired Major in the British Army (who likely served primarily in British India), and a noted mountaineer, summiting many notable peaks with his climbing peers, Franz, Gabriel and Joseph Lochmatter.

 

Great coin @Cicero12 - fabulous addition to your collection.