Yes I recieved a couple books in the mail from heritage auction, advertising an upcomming auction in Ft. Worth (30 mins away). I would love to bid on a nice half barber, but the coins in the book appear to be au and above and im not even sure I could grab one at those prices. I'm assuming this is a well known auction. I am curious to your experiences with these auctions. Is there a certain dress code? How do I bid? A friend of mine told me that sometimes at these auctions they have dummy bidders to get the price up. Just curious as to what to look out for. I'd like to be semi prepared if I attend. Can I attend even If I don't bid on anything?? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks Jason
Yes, they tend to sell the nicer, more expensive coins at those auctions. You might try their weekly auctions. They tend to be less expensive there. My experience (singular, so far) is that they are a very customer oriented company and they will go out of their way to accommodate you. Dress code - not really, but wear something realistic. Bidding - just get the auctioneer's attention, but you have to sign up and get approved for it. What fascinated me was seeing all the people attending the live auction so they can bid on their computers. BTW, you can always bid on your computer. "dummy bidders" - That has been hotly debated here. My guess is that they do not in the sense you are asking about. Most of all larger auctions (not just coins) have in house bidders who bid in essence to set a reserve. That they admittedly do on some auctions. Can you attend without bidding - yes, I did.
You can create a free account on the Heritage web site, and bid in advance of the floor auction and/or bid during the live session, or as you suggest attend in person. If you are going in-person, be sure to check the viewing schedule so you can look over the lots that you are interested in. I've bought a number of pieces from Heritage, they offer great service, and a competitive bidding environ. Good Luck
I have made several purchases from them as well. I would definitely check out their weekly on line auctions before you go. You can get a feel of the process from it. On line you can use PayPal or Google checkout. This intern gives you the option of using a credit card for your purchases. I think they are a class act and very professional. They are very heavy into TPG merchandise.
Jason, Heritage is the #1 auction house anywhere. Most of my best coins came from a Heritage auction. I have been 100% happy with these guys - impressed in more ways than one. Dress code ? Sure... do you have a nice Hawaiian shirt ? Regarding dummy bidders - this is called shill bidding and is illegal. Does your buddy have any hard info behind his allegation ? That's a very serious charge, and should not be thrown around lightly. I would not like to be accused when innocent. I would strongly encourage you to view the lots before hand, either at the Heritage offices in Dallas or before the auction at the Fort Worth ANA show. If you choose the latter, here's the trick - know which lots you're interested in and when that session starts. Check with the Heritage guys and find out the hours for the lots you're interested in; it would be a shame to pick out a plum but miss out on lot viewing.
Ditto on all the above! Heritage is VERY honest and reputable. I have never been unhappy with a purchase. Gorgeous, high-grade coins and very committed to their customers!
Yes, the weekly auctions are a little lower end "collector grade" coins; they save the best stuff for the big convention auctions. Also... at the conventions, the last sessions resemble the weekly auctions. They are "Internet Only"... no live floor sessions. For Ft Worth ANA, they are Sessions Five and Six. They are the last sessions of the weekend. You can do the same lot viewing for them as you can all the other Big Dog sessions.
I believe that most of the questions have been answered elsewhere in the thread, and quite well. We're certainly happy to hear all the kind words! If you're going to be at the show, it's probably worth it to wander over to the auction while it's in progress just to see how it works. You don't need to be registered to attend, but you do need to be specifically registered to place a floor bid. Also, take a look at the website (coins.ha.com) and review the coins you're interested in. Everything in the Fort Worth auction will be on site for personal inspection, regardless of whether it's in the floor auction on Thursday and Friday or in the online only part of the auction on Saturday and Sunday. There is no dress code unless you're working the auction for Heritage. We know very well how coin dealers dress. Also, refreshments (and sometimes dinner) are provided. Barber halves will be in either the Thursday night session (for the expensive ones) or the Saturday internet-only session. The word on "dummy bidders", both from official policy and my own experience: Heritage does not place bids during floor sessions of our auctions. Heritage employees are not permitted to bid from the floor on their own or on the company's behalf during a floor auction. We are permitted to bid in Heritage auctions on our own behalf by other methods; after all, a lot of us, including myself, are collectors as well! Heritage does not place bids just to drive up prices (shill bid). This is both illegal and unethical. Heritage does not place bids to impose a reserve. Reserves are implemented separately, generally about a week before floor auctions. Once the reserves are in place, no bids will be accepted below the reserve amount. Heritage will place bids on items in our own auctions in order to buy them for inventory or resale in a future auction. These are the same items that we would be bidding on if they appeared in somebody else's auctions. All such bids are placed before the floor sessions. If you do see a Heritage employee bidding during the auction, it is always on behalf on a client, and it's generally pretty obvious what is happening. These might be: A book bid -- representing the highest existing Internet, mail/fax, or written bid. This is always placed from the podium. A Heritage Live bid -- representing a live bid placed from someone watching the auction from his computer through our Heritage Live software. This is also always placed from the podium. A phone bid. This is self-explanatory and obvious when it happens. These are generally placed from the first row or two of the auction floor and always placed by someone who is on the phone with a live bidder. A proxy bid. We have some buyers who do not want their bids entered into our system before the auction (or who turn their bids in too late to get them entered into the system), and in these cases, one of our people will be on the auction floor or the podium with a written list of bids in hand. This otherwise works the same way as a book bid. By the way -- if you're only 30 miles away, where are you located? I might have a coin club or two to point you at.
