Congratulations to CNG and to Mike! I can't imagine a better successor. It's wonderful to know that it will continue to be managed by passionate and talented numismatic hands, and that Victor and Eric will stay on board. With this and the recent hiring of David Michaels, CNG has firmly set itself to continue to be a top-tier auction house and dealer.
For those not familiar with the name, do a search on 'gasvoda' on the CNG site and see items from his collection currently on offer. Many are coins I would love to have but should go over estimate and way over me. He has shown taste in the past and, I trust, will continue to in the future without changing what has made me a very low end customer for 30 years. My first coin from Victor England in 1988:
I dropped a consignment with CNG in Philly, and it was business as usual. You'd never know anything significant had occurred. David Michaels was a pleasure to deal with. Other than David, it was the usual faces behind the CNG tables. I suspect this will be an invisible change to most of us. I've been a CNG customer for over 20 years and I hope this change enables the company to be around for another generation of collectors.
Like others, I don't foresee any noticeable difference from the bidder end. As long as his "new ideas for the future" don't involve jumping on the slabbing bandwagon, I'm excited that he's the new owner!
Sounds like a good outcome for all. Numismatics is somewhat of a niche business and it can be tough to downsize or sell a small business when it is time for that. I helped my Dad sell his somewhat specialized business in June and it was about a 1.5 year process until we came up with three qualified buyers and held an auction with the help of investment bankers which fortunately was a good outcome for the family.
It will be interesting to see what changes will be made. Hopefully they preserve the research section.
As we age, many of us experience unpleasant changes that affect us in various ways. I'm not talking about when my hair turned gray but when my long time favorite dentist retired and when I qualified for Medicare so my favorite doctor could no longer see me as a patient. We collectors who have been around for a few years face the same problem with coin dealers. My favorite ones are getting a bit long in the tooth. A few have passed away. A few years ago I wrote a note 'just in case' suggesting who my wife might call to help with the disposal of my coins. The elder names on that list are no longer active in the business. Now, I have no intention of CNG developing an interest in coins like I have collected so the changes that are inevitable with a new owner will not affect me at all. Many more high end collectors my age probably left a note for their widow to contact CNG. Are they concerned if this was a good move? Should they be? Time will tell. Another thing that comes with age is an increased aversion to changes we can not control. I hope those of you who do have concern whether this long standing pillar of the numismatic community grows or fails took the trouble to read the excellent Coinweekly interview. Mr Gasvoda said several things that I found interesting for one reason or another. Foremost: (re: the incuse coinage of Magna Graecia) I always looked for the instructional pieces - mismatched dies; rotated dies; overstrikes; die states; etc. Each of these coins had an academic way of describing what was going on during the initial minting. If his collection will be in the next Triton sale, I shall be very interested in seeing what he had! I love those 'instructional pieces'. I hope everyone else just thinks they are defective.
This is likely a dumb question, however, does CNG have a storefront in Lancaster? I couldn’t tell from their website and didn’t realize they were based down there.
When I got into the business 30 years ago I was the youngest dealer out there. I think even Victor England was younger then as I am now (well, I am sure of it). I have plenty of great memories but Doug points out a good point for us ‘elders’. Who should handle our estates? While CNG may be the place now, they may not be in the future. My old will stipulates my coins being sold by a dealer who has now passed on. I really need to update things and perhaps it should be revisited every few years.
That is definitely here to stay. If anything, we would try to expand it to include earlier printed sales that have been digitized. No store front, but if you need to view lots you can arrange an appointment.
You can view the portions of his collection that sold in CNG 109 last week: https://cngcoins.com/Search.aspx?PA...R_TYPE_ID_2=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_4=1
An official Roman Imperial die is rare enough but a reverse die with a coin stuck in it-- a brockage in action? Incredibly cool and interesting!
