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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;IdesOfMarch01, post: 4802833, member: 39084&quot;]It strikes me that far too many assertions that are not based in fact are being thrown about in this thread, which benefits no one and doesn&#039;t further reasonable discussion.</p><p><br /></p><p>The initial issue in this thread, as I understand it, is that a dealer wanted to make opening-bid offers on a large number of coins in an auction, and the auctioneer refused to enter those bids for the dealer and subsequently banned the dealer from bidding in that auction.</p><p><br /></p><p>Gradually the thread morphed into a semi-diatribe against dealers who were bargain hunting, auctioneers who were gouging, excessive auction fees, plus a lot of value judgments (e.g., phrases such as &quot;not nice,&quot; opinions about what is a &quot;fair profit,&quot; etc.) and unsupported (and probably unsupportable) assertions being made by collectors about dealers&#039; and auctioneers&#039; ethics, whether hoards were sustainable sources of coins, etc.</p><p><br /></p><p>Personally, while I like a lively discussion about coin-related topics, I find that discussions go off the rails rapidly when personal opinions and assertions start being represented as facts.&nbsp; They&#039;re not.&nbsp; Collectors who are not also dealers (which includes me) have no direct knowledge about coin dealer and auctioneer practices. </p><p><br /></p><p>Personally, I feel comfortable writing my own opinions about collecting ancient coins, but I would never present as fact my opinions about other businesses with which I have no direct, firsthand experience.&nbsp; At best, I could do research to collect statistically valid data about a topic or industry that I don&#039;t know firsthand, in order to support my opinions, but the mathematician in me realizes this is a lot of work, not particularly fun, and not how I want to spend my time.</p><p><br /></p><p>Not winning a very desirable coin for your collection, at auction, can be very disappointing but casting aspersions on the auctioneer, the dealers who bid at auctions, etc., isn&#039;t the problem.&nbsp; It&#039;s reasonable to ask other collectors if they think the coin was overpriced, or your own assessment of its value (and your bid) was underpriced, but shifting the discussion to the auctioneer&#039;s practices, or the dealers at the auction, misses the point.</p><p><br /></p><p>When I don&#039;t win a coin on which I&#039;m bidding, it&#039;s because someone was willing to pay more for it than I was.&nbsp; Ultimately, whether that other bidder was a dealer, billionaire, Clio, or a tenacious doberman doesn&#039;t matter.&nbsp; As long as the auction&#039;s terms and conditions were applied equally and in good faith to all bidders, then I lost the coin fairly and squarely and it&#039;s time to move on to my next acquisition target.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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