Just cruisin Ebay

Man, there are a lot of corroded, low end dregs out there. I truly feel sorry for whoever are buying these things and think its ok because, "well they are old". I am not talking about just vg coins which many of us have some, but corroded, AG nearly unidentifiable pos'.

I wonder, before Ebay was this junk still around? Did dealers just throw this garbage in a big container, or were there buyers of ancient crap before Ebay?

 

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There is a lot of crap, yes. But there are also quite a few jewels to be cherrypicked with a keen eye and some patience.

 

When I was a kid and went to shows I could only remember seeing crap. In hind sight it was Roman 4th century crap to boot. With a few exceptions.

 

Maybe it has always been around. I was just bummed by page after page of corroded garbage, (of course all graded VF or higher of course).

Btw, I agree there are deals to be found JA, its just the never ending listings of pure uncollectible crap keeps getting longer and longer. I don't mind them selling what they have, but a broken, corroded Constantius II fel temp is not worth selling individually. Put all of this crud in a pile of 100 and sell them, (oops, sorry they already do as "uncleaned coins )

 

I like the guy who sells gold plated Late Roman Bronzes. I just wonder why?

 

When I was first starting in the hobby 50 years ago, I answered an ad in the back of a magazine for a large group (25? - exact number now uncertain) of ancient coins for $2.99 (another guess). At that time I was used to paying 50 cents for decent late Romans or worn sestertii and $5 got decent, common denarii. The photo above (made for another purpose - who has seen it on my site in the fiction section?) shows several of those coins under four larger and better junkers (Licinius, Gallienus, 2 reverses) and two fakes (Gela and Victory). If it is in the photo above and you can't ID it, it was part of that lot. I'm glad I never threw them away since I can show you now that there were junk coins long before eBay was born. The backs of magazine of interest to boys were filled with ads for stamps and coins from companies that counted on my not knowing any better.

 

This "trend" is not restricted to ancients. There are droves of all kinds of crap coins on eBay, from USA, to non-USA "moderns", and to everything else under the sun. You name it, you can find a crappy version of it on eBay.

 

I remember those days too Doug. I also remember buying "world coins" out of a comic book add and I think I also bought some "world stamps" from the same kind of ad. Yeah, I believe there have been shyster's around since near the beginning of time, not just since Ebay.

 

There is alot more junk being added year after year. Now there is more Bulgarian fakes being listed from Bulgaria no less. I dont buy "lots" of any sort, especially on ebay & good ones on other auctions go for more then I can afford.

I dislike the overpriced stuff on average coins then I do the junk listings.

 

I know its funny me complaining about Ebay since I buy something most weeks. I just got the coin in my avatar a few days ago, (Lanna kingdom, Chieng Sen, chieng money, about 1500). But, if it weren't for about 4 sellers most weeks I would buy nothing. Its simply becoming a real chore to weed out the one in 500 auctions I MAY be interested in, and then losing 90% of them anyway.

I guess I just go back to my saved searches.

 

The wheat comes with the chaff. By churning out millions upon millions of coins, the Romans considerably increased the chances that many pieces would be well-preserved, and that the average middle-class collector (like me) could afford to engage in this fascinating hobby. If their coins were as scarce as their marble sculptures, numismatics would revert to the hobby of kings.

But that also means the existence of mountains of culls. No big deal: nothing to see here, move along.

 

When I was in college and eBay was new I bought some of these "uncleaned Roman lots" because I was fascinated by the idea of owning something 2,000 years old. Most of the coins I got were junk as shown above and it kind of turned me off of ancient coins ever since.

 

I think a lot of us have been burned by the junk lots. I just don't even look any longer. I know what I want when I see it. I don't want to buy a bunch of "uncleaned" culls to waste my time.

 

I thought then it was amazing that something so old was still around and I could own it without spending a lot of money. I didn't realize how many there actually were and many in much better shape.

 

I hate to see eBay or lots vilified as a group when the faults of both are common across the board. There are may good coins sold on eBay but you have to figure out which ones they are. That involves skills like picking a seller and reading the listing and photos critically. Similarly decent coins are sometimes sold in groups. In the upcoming Triton sale there are 'back of catalog' groups of 5 to 2007 coins offered as one. The 2007 is a pile of barbarous radiates and probably holds a lot of interest for someone into these coins a bit more than I. There are groups of a hundred coins described as VF to EF but, again, someone might need to want a few duplicates. I suspect these will go to dealers. Dealers, even small ones do not want a hundred dregs and floorsweepings so we see them on eBay being sold to people who do not know there are other ways of buying coins. Don't blame the venue or the groupings but blame the buyer who thinks he can get a hundred dollar coin for $19.95 or a lot of 100 $10 coins for $69.95.

I admit a lot of curiosity on what the Triton lots will bring not because I want them but because I wonder which ones I will see broken down and offered to me for a price by the eventual buyers.

 

Well, I love ebay.....if it wasnt for ebay I would be very very bored. I have made some bad purchases, some very good ones too and some phenominal ones which have led to out of ebay purchases of beautiful groups.
Its easy to flick through the crud and the good coins stand out. I am about to list 40 lots and all are in my opinion top top quality, I get repeat buyers and many of my coins find their way to veecoins and Forum amongst others. I love the rubbish coins, because when mine are next to them, they look even worse.

 

Not all Triton lots go to dealers Doug. There MAY be some hoarders out there willing to buy a large number of coins at a time.

I never meant this thread really to be against ebay or lots, simply bemoaning the seeming ever rising tide of juno on the marketplace.

 

ebay is ebay

I think that the buy it now prices keep going up, but the quality is not keeping up, although once in a while there is something nice to be had for a guy like me with a low budget (very low).

With patience there are some pretty good deals in the auctions.

There seem to be more and more fakes too.

A lot of times on ebay it seems like your looking through someones junk box.

 

Asking prices and selling prices are two different things. There are a handful of sellers asking stupid money for common coins: $150 for a Constantius FH, $230 for a denarius of Caracalla, etc. They're hoping to sucker in some new collector that doesn't know the market. If you search the sold listings, you'll find that the vast majority of buyers aren't that naive.

 

This seems pretty much in keeping with what I would call reason. Suppose each day you turned loose on the market 100 coins. Of these, some would be bought and enter someone's collection not to be seen again for a long time. Others would be returned to the market by dealers/speculators. Of those a few would be skimmed off the top into collections and the rest would recycle again in some form in the market. Each cycle would see a few nicer coins retired so eventually the original group is reduced to mostly coins no one really wanted in the long term. Every so often someone will sell their collection so those selected coins will reenter but many will enter higher up according to how good the coins were. Only the lower end collections will recycle to eBay with mid grades (most of ours except for a couple who will be CNG or better) probably going to VCoins type dealers. This will continue until there are more old collectors dying than there are new collectors entering the market at which time there will be a glut on the market of nice coins no one wants. If this seems ridiculous look at the hobby of bell collecting. My wife joined a local chapter of the American Bell Association forty years ago and is still one of the younger members. We have attended several sales of collections that went for less than was paid in the 1970-1990 period when the now 90 year olds were actively competing for antique bells of quality. Bells have the difference from ancient coins that few new ones are found (no hoard material of things from the 1800's). Junk sells at flea markets but heirs to a thousand old bells have more trouble finding a buyer. Will ancient coins be in demand in 2050?