That was ridiculous! I know you don't collect AE coins, but did you the bids on the sestertii? I was blown away. I bid on a few of nicer ones, but the rest were mediocre at best and received bids that could only be characterized as insane! I'm getting increasingly frustrated (as I'm sure many collectors are) that I will never achieve my collecting goals. I suppose that I should count my blessings that I scored one coin from the January auctions (Triton), but I am still frustrated. I had hoped to check off more than one coin from my list....especially since the types I'm looking for don't typically appear in regular auctions.
Start a side collection of venues. If you only follow the high status auctions, you always compete with the high status people. I’m not one of them, so I have no business at the Heritage. Let them knock themselves out.
What I've always cordially hated about Heritage Auctions is how you can't browse by categories. ...Hmm. Sounds as if they don't feel the need to give you the option. Apparently predicated on the premise that whoever bids on their lots has a lackey who will search by keyword, or just trawl through the whole mess.
I've been outbid a lot of times recently. I won't keep hitting the update your bid button once the line of insanity has been crossed. How about $5000 for a sestertius of Gallienus?
...Yeah, along the lines of what @svessien said, it's kind of like, Whatever. Eventually, one might wonder whether both the auction house and the bidders are doing toot. ...Right, in both cases, in real time.
I do look at other venues frequently (outside of HA, NAC, Roma, Leu, Kunker...etc.), but as a matter of personal preference, I'm not often drawn to the types of coins offered at these venues. I am by no means a 'higher end collector' (compared to many on this forum), but since I primarily collect Roman imperials (and therefore tend to focus on portraits), I tend to prioritize eye appeal. For this reason, I sold about 160 of my coins. Perhaps, I have to reevaluate my goals altogether. However, the frustrating thing about this is how much more I would have been able to purchase had the prices not skyrocketed. Many of the coins I wanted were 2-3x times what they were last year. All I can say is that I hope there are more opportunities in the spring auctions.
With the designation MS GEM 5/5 5/5 = Kunker/ Rauch/ Nomos/ Leu MS/ stempelglanz=price 1000-1500 Leo Solidi are very common CNG/ Lansky probably would have graded it supberb/EF.
compared with one that sold at Leu 3 years ago which is from the same dies + almost identical (except the one that sold at Leu wasn't ruined by the die shift on the obverse) + another Gem MS 5/5/ 5/5 from 4 years ago..
@arnoldoe, I'm looking at this, and I'm saying (with apologies, starting with adherents), "Church of God In Christ." (--Yes, that's a denomination.) If change starts from the top (of the market), the trajectory isn't looking good.
The fun that’ll come out of this when we see the coin up for auction in a year with a $1k estimate as the flipper realizes they made a huge mistake
I got blown out the water with all of my bids. Heritage auctions are the expensive place to buy coins in the legitimate numismatic world.
I got a few great coins on Heritage auctions a few years ago - it was a place where you could get a great deal but for last years or so the minimums have become insane - I never bothered to follow up but it sounds like the prices would not support a sale anywhere else
i just looked at the prices paid for imperial coins - absurd. You can find easily better for less elsewhere