Bizarre auction prices ...

I was watching Roma XXIII live this morning, just out of interest since last nights pre-bid levels had already dashed my plans of bidding.

Some truly bizarre LRB prices...

Here's two particularly mind-boggling ones:

Lot # 645, Constantine Virtvs, with fees, went for $1,288 !



Lot # 652, Helena, with fees, went for .... $3,542 !!!



It'd be fascinating to know who is paying prices like this, and why.

 

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All I can say is crazy....

 

...idk who, but i hope they're around when i put my coins up for sale..

 

Good grief!

Were the coins slabbed?

 

Lot 645 was $88 more than my most expensive coin ever, a Johannes tremissis purchased in the late '90s. Which was the better deal?

 

I think the inevitable stock market crash (could be wrong, the market is pretty artificial) will bring prices way down.

Now you can see why I avoid auctions like the plague.

 

Nope!

 

Eh, I saw a Antony and Cleopatra also, (after the fact), sell in February for $10k minimum under what I thought it was worth. I would have bought it had I been at the auction. Auctions will always have crazy stuff, some too high some good deals. I lose 80% of stuff I go after, but still get some good deals at times, or rare coins I cannot get otherwise.

 

On the plus side, Beanie Babies are way down. Time to BUY BUY BUY!

 

I know why the Helena went for that. I tried to buy it.

Helena is by far the most difficult emperor/empress to get from the London mint. Some emperors are difficult to get as both Caesar and Augustus, but all are easy to get as one or the other. I haven't seen a London mint coin of Helena either at auction or with a dealer for at least 3 years.

To put that into context, this auction also sold the fourth example of a London/Augusta mint Magnus Maximus solidus in the same timeframe - and there are only about 11 of those extant. (That went for £21,000 with fees).

On top of that, London mint Helenas are usually in terrible condition. That one, as Roma said, was the best in the auction archives.

The mystery, in fact, is why the auction estimate was £300. The pre-sale got to £700, but I knew even that was far too low. I bid £1,200, which before the sale I thought might have a chance, but clearly a couple of people were bidding with much deeper pockets and less patience than me.

I'm hoping this sale will encourage some of the other examples back to the market!

In the meantime, I will have to be content with this one from the Trier mint, found in Eastbourne, Sussex. Coins of Helena actually used in Britain seem much more likely to have come from Trier than London. It's a bit rough - the seller couldn't attribute it closer than 'Roman', and perhaps my attribution isn't quite right - but it only cost £8 rather than £2,728 (a difference of £2,720).

Helena AE4, 337-340

Trier. Bronze, 16mm, 2.2g. Bust right wearing ornamental mantle, hair elaborately dressed; FL IVL HE-LENAE AVG. Pax standing left holding branch and transverse sceptre; PA-X PV-BLICA; Mintmark TRP (RIC VIII, 78).

 

I was in the lead on a AV Solidus Julius Nepos/ then a *****
phone bidder kept upting the ante/ I let him/her have it
Then, a beautifull Basiliscus and Marcus (Bare Nostum Hoard) came up/ highest bid was 1800/ I bid 2000/ no counterbid So I got it!

 

I had to go over 4 times the estimate to get rid of her. Usual pattern, you clear the book and other online bidders and then she pops up. One day her phone will not work and then the auction will take a long break till she's back.

 

I cannot for the life of me, why people still bid via phone. Online is so much easier.

 

To save 2% of the bidding platform fees over hundreds of thousands worth of buys

 

Mine is far from that nice:



On the other hand, if cost me only $6 at a major dealer's shop in 1988.

 

Beanie Babies are a lot like coins. The one that were played with by children never were worth anything because they only wanted mint state with tags. My daughter has quite a few, all loved and played with after surgery on their ears to remove that tag. One is even old enough that the label did not name the animal. Too bad provenance means nothing since we can trace ownership for decades.

 

I really recommend this video, and this youtube channel for that matter. Funny and insightful.