How come this coin sold for so much?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Harry G, Feb 28, 2021.

  1. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    money laundering.jpg
     
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  3. Nathan P

    Nathan P Well-Known Member

    I haven't bought a coin in months. For the types of coins I like - mostly Greek in decent condition - I've been effectively priced out of the market. I actually switched over to baseball cards (my other hobby) six months ago, but now feel that market is also totally out of control. I'm a seller in all collectibles markets right now.
     
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  4. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Get into autographs. My coin buying has slowed & have been focusing on them more. The market seems quiet & affordable for the most part.
     
  5. jamesicus

    jamesicus Well-Known Member


    1. [​IMG] [​IMG]
      • Killingholme Hoard (Trier Mint) - 324 to 325
      • O: Helena diademed bust right - FL HELENA AVGVSTVA
      • R: Securitas standing left - SECVRITAS REIPVBLICE
     
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  6. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    All ancient coins have gone up. I used to get junk lots of 100 coins for between $70 and $85.
    I would part them out, sell some individuals and lots, and after a disproportionate amount of time and effort spent, I would double my investment.

    now those same lots sell for as much as $135, which effectively reduces potential upside from 200% profit to maybe 100-120%.
    Considering the amount of hours spent, it’s no longer a real money making proposition to do this anymore
     
  7. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ..ive started a vintage Jamaica cloth doll collection as of late :)
     
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  8. Herodotus

    Herodotus Well-Known Member

    That sounds a lot more enriching than my collecting habits of late...

    More gray hairs and wrinkles :cigar:
     
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  9. nicholasz219

    nicholasz219 Well-Known Member

    I bid on two coins. One was bid just over what I wanted to pay which would have been fine to stretch a little if the other coin was reasonable. I try to buy at least two coins in foreign auctions because the shipping is usually €20. That way I hopefully don’t get buried in one coin. But then, I checked the other coin that I had bid €40 on:

    761FC5CF-BAC4-47E1-BF2D-A0F9897EFB5F.png
    and I was like what in the world?

    So no wins for me.

    @Valentinian Im not sure when this market will bottom out but I hope it is soon. I’m ready for cheap coins again already.

    Like @Mat I drift between my coins, books and postcards from Chicago. Luckily no one seems to care about postcards so I’m scratching the itch at $1 per pop.
     
  10. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ..haha!..i'm collecting a lot of those meself too lately...:oldman:
     
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  11. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Or call it money exchange. Trading in modern paper currency for real money made from precious metals.;)
     
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  12. Nathan P

    Nathan P Well-Known Member

    Historical or sports or both?
     
  13. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    I think that I have to collect in the market as it is. I’ve always been a bit defensive with my bidding, but it’s hard to get anything good with that attitude these days. I was hoping to get 2 late Roman or early Byzantine solidii at Leu 15. I had to settle for one, and it was expensive. But it was the coin I had my eyes on this time:

    0D0F466E-7FCE-4A37-8B4F-8F7F16AEE7C1.jpeg

    Anastasius, solidus.

    There were lots that went cheap too. I picked up a few snacks, a.o. this one:

    09A85AED-D80A-4157-8212-25C96DBC24D6.jpeg

    Philip I in this condition for 70 fr. is a good enough price for me.
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2021
  14. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Nice ones! You will never regret winning a coin. I thought that I had been dragged into a bidding war(actually was) and ended up paying $4200 for a Henry VI AV Quarter Noble in FDC.....I am glad now, esp. when I look at it as I am doing now.:happy:
     
  15. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Great coins @svessien - there was an antoninianus of Gallienus that I bid 35 CHF on featuring Gallienus holding spear and shield, with a reverse of GERMANICVS MAX V and a trophy with two captives. The silver was good and it had a bit of a weak strike but otherwise nice. Somebody bid 36 CHF and won it right at hammer time. The problem was that the third century coins were being auctioned off at between 3:30 and 4:30 AM and I just couldn't stay awake to prevent being outbid. Here is the coin...

    galspear.jpg
     
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  16. Valentinian

    Valentinian Well-Known Member

    An IDE MAR aureus sold for over $3 million (Roma Auction XX Day 1, 29-10-2020, Lot 463).
    https://www.romanumismatics.com/221...ype=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=
    It may be the most famous ancient-coin type. A Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $5.2 million.
    https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/02/why-are-sports-cards-so-hot-right-now.html

    If one of them will hold its value, which one do you think it will be?

    Prices are crazy all over the collectables market. Digital art, even though it can be perfectly reproduced and infinitely copied, can bring high prices. Blockchain technology is used to authenticate one particular copy as the original. How about paying $580,000 for the original of an animated flying cat?
    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/learning/pop-tart-cat.html?searchResultPosition=2

    Or paying $952 for an authenticated original of a Mark Cuban tweet?

    Unbelievable!

    To add coins to this thread, I can show coins like the remarkably expensive coins of Victorinus, Helena, and Herod Agrippa seen above. I'm glad I bought them long ago.

    VictorinusINVICTVSbrown8329.jpg

    4 GBP (about $6) in York in 1983, not the OP $574.

    Helena0120SisciaHighlights.jpg

    $75, at a coin show in 2001, not 750 CHF plus juice.

    H4th553HerodAgrippa04122.jpg

    $35 on eBay in 2004, not 500 euros plus juice.

    It is very hard to hold back and not buy when you want a coin but its price is much higher than it was a while ago. So far, recently I bought one coin for $140 when it would have been maybe $70-$80 only a year ago pre-covid. By looking very hard I have managed to buy a number of others at very good prices, not inflated at all. Yesterday's Leu had numerous interesting coins, but I resisted paying a multiple of previous prices for coins I wanted. The result was I won nothing.

    Collectibles markets are crazy now.
     
  17. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Do you remember the banana held by duct tape going for $120,000 last year at auction? What a piece of modern art....

    banana.jpg
     
  18. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    Very often I stop bidding, thinking that I can get this coin type at a better price another day.
    But this day, I wasn’t sure that I would get an opportunity to get an Anastasius solidus that I liked that much. I may be right, or it may be it’s the FOMO-21 kicking in on me too.
     
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  19. Tejas

    Tejas Well-Known Member

    My point about money laundering was actually not meant as a joke. I attended an auction last year where one bidder bought all gold coins at excessive prices. The auctioneer was slightly embarrassed having to award one coin after another to one and the same bidder number, represented by a dealer in the room. Maybe the buyer was just keen to buy about 100 aurei in one go at whatever prices it took, but it is also possible that this was a money laundering scheme. It would not be the first time that the arts market was abused for money laundering purposes.

    People with ill gotten money and ancient coins (e.g. smuggled out of a country where export of antiquities is illegal, such a Ukraine) take the coins to an auction house. The people with the dirty money bid up the prices. The proceeds go to the person with the coins (who is probably the same as the person who has the dirty money). The auction house gets its commission, and out comes clean legal money and clean legal coins with a provenance.
     
  20. Harry G

    Harry G Well-Known Member

    If I won EuroMillions, that's exactly what I would do first lol
     
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  21. Herodotus

    Herodotus Well-Known Member

    Here’s a coin that’ll make one go “well, I’ll be snookered”.

    I mean, who doesn’t like snake-driven bigas(?), but sheesh!:eek:

    upload_2021-3-1_10-52-43.jpeg
    Lot 1087
    THRACE. Perinthus. Gordian III, 238-244.
    Hexassarion (Bronze, 34 mm, 19.70 g, 1 h). AYT K M•ANT•ΓOPΔIANOC A• Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III to right, seen from behind. Rev. ΠEPINΘIΩN ΔIC NE•/ΩKOPΩN Triptolemos driving biga of winged serpents to right, spreading seeds. Varbanov 545. Very rare and with a lovely green patina. Slightly rough on the obverse, otherwise, very fine.
    Starting price:
    100 CHF
    Hammer price:
    2400 CHF
    Number of bids: 13


    Startling.. Considering the same coin hammered 11 months ago @Naumann for the opening bid of 800 EUR


    upload_2021-3-1_11-1-41.jpeg
    Auction 77 — Lot 385
    Bidding
    Price realized 800 EUR1 bid
    Starting price 800 EUR
    Estimate 1'000 EUR

    Maybe those hard cover auction catalogs are paying off for ol’ Leu, eh?

    200% return on that bad boy. S&P500 can kiss my arse.:kiss:
     
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