Goodbye Clio

You will see some really rich folks throwing wads of ca$h around at the upcoming Numismatika Genevensis "Royal sale" auction. I suspect many will come from the Gulf States King Farouk of Egypt used to do that back in the 40s/50s auction scene until Nasser put an end to his collecting.

 

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If he/she is a true collector, they will stay in their new home.
Nothing worse for our hobby then speculators out to make a fast $$$.

 

Which coin are you taking about? He got at least 3 Greeks and none looked like a bargain to my eyes

 

Now that I look back at it maybe not half retail. I would expect to see this at $200+ retail. Its very nice despite the wear and has some interesting aspects. Selge has a unique style, the toning is great, the countermark a bonus, and if you look closely its not double struck like the description says but has a very interesting double border on the obverse.

 

None of the ones I've been outbid by Clio on have ever shown up again. What I know about the collector makes me assume they'll never be on the market again.

 

Thats a good thing in my eyes

 

I hope this doesn't mean his collection is ultimately destined for a museum! Having those coins in the hands of the next generation of collectors would be better than having them in the basement or vaults of a museum.

 

Would be that bad if the collection goes to a museum? How would be different if the coins sit in the basement of a museum vs the basement of a bank/private residence? You have no guarantee that they will be released on the market for the next generation. Maybe they will just be passed as "assets" to the heirs, who will not need to sell them to make a living.

Tacking as example the British Museum - there are exhibition where you could actually see the coins, there is a nice database, summer schools, hands on desks.

Taking you as example - you have a nice website, you discuss and contribute knowledge on the forum.

As for Clio - what does he/she has, other than a safe somewhere?

 

Good points. Ideally (at least in my opinion ) most coins would remain with collectors where they would re-enter the market periodically, and collectors would actively display their coins, either formally on a website or by participating in forums such as CoinTalk where their coins can be viewed searched.

Some museums are certainly better than others when it comes to coins. Museums which take good photographs of their coins, describe and catalog them thoroughly, and make all of this information available to the public online are good.

 

Yes, I agree 100 percent. I frown upon the people that will scoop up nice coins, then put them back into auction to make a quick profit, a year later. But private collectors (like myself) will bring coins to coin club events for "show and tell". Thus more new people will come into the hobby.

 

Ok that's why I didn't notice...I am still in the phase I didn't specialize that much...But it does make sense Clio being interested in it

 

I prefer to believe, whether I am naive or not, that someone with Clio's resources would select a museum that would make proper use of the coins rather than squirreling them away in a basement. Many museums would do this on one condition. In addition to the gift of the coins, there would have to be a cash grant to allow construction of a proper facility AND funding in perpetuity of a number of staff positions to curate, maintain and secure the coins. If the coins add up to a few million dollars, the annual income from the grant would have to be at least that much to make the museum willing to undertake the task. The coins selected by Clio strike me as rather well thought out and suitable to put an institution on the map in this one specialty. I have no idea what might be the current market value or what it would cost the house and curate them. Most museums have to pay their bills from entrance fees or small change benefactors. Funding an annuity that would cover a building/maintenance project, two PhD's and a small staff (6?) of assistants would attract the attention of some university or municipal museum. They don't want my coins not as much because my coins are junk but because there is not a continuing income from them making it worth their while to forget these are 'just coins'.

 

I'd guess several of us have one of these (without the c/m) and I admit I would like to know what attracted him to the coin. Maybe someday there will be a book entitled "Everything CT Wanted to Know". I'll not hold my breath but I would be likely to buy a copy.

I would say 'overstruck'.

 

Sadly ancient coins are of no interest for the general public who prefer statues pottery or similar big and eye catching artifacts. By default you can't exhibit coins in a nice way and most display one side only. So I doubt the extra revenues because of a potential Clio donation would be enough to break even the costs of curation etc. And expecting from the donor to pay the staff to curate the donation would be too much IMHO. Throw everything in the lava of mount doom instead

 

Yes overstruck, old toning and the countermark did the job for Clio I guess....

I also got my first overstruck coin in the same auction, and the overstrike was the decisive factor

 

I wonder if Clio knows that he is a CoinTalk legend??

 

I hope so!

I seem to remember from a post (not naming the poster) that Clio keeps the coins. I have no problem with this. I would be a little annoyed if someone tried to tell me what to do with mine. Perhaps they are going to save them up and sort them out in their retirement.

I would find a website hosting the collection fascinating.

 

All this talk of 'clio' and his collection begs the question is it a collection with a purpose or goal or is he just a hoarder? I like collections that tell a story - what story, if any, does clio's collection tell?

 

Collecting rare coins, is a fantastic hobby, hoarding is when people afflicted by mental issues, keep everything including absolute junk to a point where their homes are unliveable. Like having 348 cats!
Collections always tell a story, are you a perfectionist, specialist/ or like me collect all over the map/ time periods.
In the end, I prefer to have it in the basement, look at everyday. I like the Clint Eastwood passage in "Dirty Harry" Go ahead COINS make my day

 

The difference between a hoard and a collection is that the owner of the collection has thought up a theme to make himself feel better about being a hoarder

(just jokes David... you know I love your Flavian beauties!! )

Clio seems to have an eye for interesting coins in general and his interests are apparently very broad.