My Plotina Sestertius from the same 22.November Jesus Vico auction arrived here in Germany after six weeks on 6 January and has since travelled to California to David Sear where it has arrived after another 16 days, a little slower than usual but not unexpected in these times.
I have had several items in international transit since December and have been watching their tracking. I have seen items given a tracking number on the day of payment, get into the source country postal system and make it to leaving the country within a day or so. It then sits with that status for anything from 2 weeks to 6 weeks before suddenly appearing in international clearing in destination country (mine) and getting to me then within 2 days from that point. It is just disconcerting when it seems to be in no man's land for so long.....
Jesus Vico is an auction house of high reputation. I would completely rule out any intentional wrong-doing on their side. Of course, mistakes can happen and they may be on the slow side in general, but I strongly expect that the coin will turn up eventually.
I'm in the same boat. A neat sestertius has been sitting somewhere in the origin country (Germany) since mid December with no movement. *sigh*
Years ago I placed a pre-bid on a greek coin they had. After a while, and before the auction took place, I discovered an earlier provenance and it seemed that the coin was repaired. I informed them and they cancelled my bid but they did not withdraw the coin nor did they update the description. That was my last interaction with them and I don't even browse their sales.
The world’s postal services have been crippled by the pandemic. The mail is still excruciatingly slow. Experienced postal workers get sick and their positions are often filled by less experienced folks.
Yep...I won a coin from Jesus that I didn't get any electronic post about. A bill turned up via snail mail out of the blue! Their administration is not of the best!
Spain a 3rd world country? I wonder what other countries and the US are then. For your perspective, I received today a package from Spain shipped 3 days ago, ordered 1 week ago. A bit of a hasty generalization.
I have gotten many coins from Jesus Vico in past. Always took a while for export permits. But coins always arrived safe. I won a 3200 euros coin from MDC/ Monaco back in November. They still have to wait for French export permit. Its not the auction houses you should blame/ but stupid govt. red tape Thankfully most auction houses do not bother with this, and send coins as "neutral" reg. letters.
I agree. This delay both in delivery and communications could possibly be attributed to the current world climate where postal delays can be months and staffing can be impacted by lockdowns and other distancing measures.
What's going on is not unusual these days. US Mint claims an order is received then notified order shipped. BTW it means nothing. All it means is that it's in the process about thinking about shipping. Three weeks later I receive the coin. That has been going on with the mint for years. However, sometimes things do ship quicker for some reason. Shipping delays are happening all the time now and everywhere. I've bought a lot from Heritage Auctions since 1997 and at one time an order would ship a day or two after an auction. Now I get notified of winning a lot and then sometimes over a week goes by before I get a notice it shipped. But as with the mint it means little. I even get a tracking number but, the post office doesn't show it in their system. I've seen where it would take days before the post office said they have it and it's on it's way. So don't assume your being ripped off until you actually are being ripped off. I used to get really irritated when I was notified a coin shipped only to find out its still sitting in the mail room as Heritage. I buy on open account with Heritage so my items are never held up because of a payment issues. You should assume the same thing is going on everywhere.
I really would doubt if any auction house would want bad PR. They are in business to attract consignees/ and bidders. In order to be popular, they need to be honest on grading/ authenticity/ fees/ shipping. I think most pass on #1/2/4 The 20 percent comm. fees are a bit high. John
I believe it could be beneficial if Auction Houses and the like would place an online disclaimer as to the length of time it could take for the shipping to various destinations. This may help clear up any misunderstanding as to when the coin(s) may reach their intended destination.
Was Jeff himself a con? I mean his gold “laundromat find” was pretty funny. Usually I’d chime in on those but I guess at the time I didn’t know. Reminds me of the 1909 rainbow toned matte proof our “13 year old” had. oh, and ‘ol Jeff calling @paddyman98 a nerd? Priceless! (I would be delighted to receive that complement)
Does China mean anything to you! Thanks to China I will not purchase outside of the Americas. My opinion only. Good luck
I would agree not to buy anything from the PR China/ esp. coins (fakes) But why penalize Europe/ most of the best auctions are in Europe/ UK. The Europeans/ British are in the dumpster because of the Chinese/ Wuhan pandemic, as most of the rest of the World.