I just missed this coin

Hello together,

I want to start a thread where everybody can show coins that he or she was bidding on but unfortunately missed.

Today, I missed this stupendous Titus sestertius vended at Hirsch. The coin was finally sold for 15'550 EUR + fee and I was outbid at 15'000 EUR. Since the last bid was a half bid, I definitely had the chance to purchase this item but passed up this opportunity.

What do you think? Was this the chance in life?

 

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Remember that you never know what the other guy's highest bid might be. It is easy to think you could have gotten it for only one more increment, but maybe HIS highest was still several more and he got it for less than he was willing to pay.

That looks nice, but I couldn't tell you anything about the value. Was that 15 THOUSAND euros?

Rob

 

I would agree that this coin would have been worth a bid at 16,000 Euros (plus buyer's fee). Based on my experience with finding a high-quality Titus sestertius for my own collection (see below), the winning bidder was fortunate (assuming the coin looked as good in person as in the picture).



TITUS Caesar 69 - 79 A.D.
AE Sestertius 26.19 g. Rome 74 A.D.
T CAES VESPASIAN IMP PON TR POT COS III CENS Laureate head r. Rev. S – C Spes advancing l., holding flower in r. and raising skirt with left
RIC Vespasian 739

 

Superb Titus!

I agree. It is a high-grade first century sestertius with a historical interesting reverse. I do not know why I passed up this chance. Maybe, in the moment I had the opportunity to press the button, there were too many thoughts and emotions going in my head around.

I was bidding 15'000 EUR. The bid increment at 15'000 EUR was 1'000 EUR but he increased the bid just from 15'000 EUR to 15'500 EUR, i.e. clearly a half bid. If I had bidden 16'000, my opponent would not have had the chance for a further bid. Therefore, it was definitively an opportunity to puchase that item for 16'000 EUR + fee.

Yes, I am talking about 15 thousand 5 Hundred Euros.

 

Nice coins, but above my price range for a coin. I have one or two I would pull the trigger around $10k, but not that high.

I do know the feeling of worry. I posted a thread here a week ago "How much is too much". I have chased a coin for a long time. While not as expensive or as nice as yours, I am on pins and needles today to see if I will win it. Its never pleasant putting in a strong bid and being right at your breaking point, you are kind of damned if you do or damned if you don't, worrying alternately about overpaying or losing a coin you cannot easily obtain again. Unfortunately ancients have this curse worst than most numismatic fields, way too many of our coins cannot be replaced easily. In US numismatics, nearly everything is buyable for a price. Not so much in out field, but I persoanlly find this more satisfying, (if frustrating at times, like you are right now sir).

 

Many auctioneers accept only one cut bid per bidder. You very well may have won the lot 16K.

Try not to lose too much sleep over it! There will be more Titus sestertii. While it may take a few year to find another that you like, it will happen. This very coin may ever reappear in five or ten years. Just keep looking.

 

Well, in this moment, I was lacking courage. Always when the lots are starting from a low starting bid, I am not sovereign enough. I bet that I would have paid a higher price requested by a dealer if I had discovered the item on a coin fair.

 

Good point. I get that affliction as well. You see the starting bid, and the price its currently at, and somehow that lower price gets locked in your head, making it harder to go higher. Excellent post sir. I have tried to try various techniques around it, but with not much success. Many times I find myself going back to previous auctions and asking myself why I didn't bid a little stronger, since I would surely pay as much or more than the auction sales price today.

 

If I had to post all the auctions I've lost, I'd be doing it all day. The world will always be full of beautiful coins, most of which I won't own. But I will own a few.

 

I definitely appreciate your struggle as well. It's challenging to commit to bidding significantly over the estimate, but estimates are often quite low to encourage more bidding.

My most expensive coin, my Eid Mar denarius, was estimated illogically low but I had to pay 4.13x the estimate to acquire it. I don't consider myself to have overpaid as there were three other bidders at almost the same price. Most of my best coins cost 2-3x the estimate, and some I've won for exactly at the estimate (and on the other side, one of my favorites hammered for 1/4th of my max bid).

My approach is to do the research thoroughly ahead of time and stick with my max bid. I usually incorporate a bit of flexibility because it's hard to know exactly what bid you'll land on: I'll leave myself a cut bid or will "complete" a cut bid if one occurs before, but I stop after that.

As said above, it's possible the bidder who won it would bid much higher: maybe they were the bidder on the Agrippa As from NAC 78 for 12 times the estimate

I wouldn't worry too much - there is always another coin coming up around the corner!

 

Cool O/P coin => way-way-way above my comfort zone, but totally cool nonetheless ...

... but yah, I agree with JA => man, I miss out on a whole lotta coins!!

For example, I missed-out on 6 coins today, but after a one-month-forced-wagon-ride, I did manage to snag a couple of new babies (I'm about to post 'em) ...

Neat thread-idea, Marc

Cheers

 

http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=584123
The above is a bit higher grade and has a fancy bust but I like the portrait style (face) on your missed OP coin better. Does the fact that someone else was willing to pay 10x the price for a similar coin make the one you missed seem better or worse? I believe all this really shows is that there will be other coins, perhaps better, perhaps not. If you are doing this for fun, crying over the lost ruins the fun. If you are doing this for profit, the time wasted in remorse is time poorly invested. This holds equally true for the $16 coins and $160 coins I collect.

 

How true. How so very true!

 

I missed-out on this one quite recently:

No worries. I thought it was pretty but there should be other opportunities & my want list is very (very) long.

 

I'd estimate that I'm the runner-up bidder on 75 percent of the auctions I bid on. It makes me wonder how much those coins would have sold for if I hadn't bid on them.

 

Did you win?

 

i think i am as well....always a bridesmaid.

 

The underbidder is the most important person in an auction. If all of us losers stopped trying, the guys that bid a million would win on their opening bids and the auction houses would cease to be. If you are highest underbidder on a number of lots, the house would be well advised to send you catalogs and encourage your participation. They are making good money off of your misery.

 

I'm the pace-car

 

Me? Someone has to bring up the rear.