Has anyone been sitting back & watching these crazy prices for many of the coins from the current Leu auction? I don't participate but I enjoy watching from time to time, like today. Like this for example. https://leunumismatik.com/en/lot/31/504/[31]
Still cautiously optimistic the coins I’m watching don’t go crazy. But, maybe the Ruskies are offloading their rubbles into ancients today
When there's a live auction with bid-caller & video-feed, I do oftentimes leave it playing in the background kinda like watching football on a weekend afternoon! But this one I've only paid attention to a few I was interested in. I've been watching the BCD Collection coins from his named sales (BCD Lokris-Phokis = NAC 55; BCD Boiotia = Triton IX; BCD Thessaly II = Triton XV). There were actually two that surprised me by going cheaper than I expected: Lot 537, the Ex-BCD Boiotia 613 (and other collections) bronze hammered at 360 CHF (fairly reasonable). BUT that was actually a massive loss compared to its sale last year at Leu e-Auction 17, where it hit 950 CHF! (I bid then too but wasn't even close.) I really wanted it this time but not enough; I was the underbidder (starting to regret dropping out). Lot 487, the Perrhaiboi Hemidrachm (ex BCD Thess II 541) hammered at 650, only 50 more than it did in late 2016 (600 CHF). Likewise, it hammered for $600 at Triton XV, which was 10 years ago. So that coin was also surprising for not having gone up. So far I have managed to catch a pair of rare Phokis AR Hemiobols from BCD Lokris-Phokis (NAC 55, 197 & 198) for 145 CHF total (Lots 525 & 526; if they weren't previously from that collection/sale, that'd be too high, though the top one looks to be quite nice for one of these). Others from that series went affordably and I regret not chasing one of them (esp. Lot 530 -- a true steal at 65CHF + fees). However, the rare "Ethiopian" obol (850 CHF) and hemiobol (380 CHF) were justifiably expensive. From the NAC 55 (BCD Lokris-Phokis) Catalog in 2010: Some of the Greek bronzes hammered much higher than I was hoping for (especially the well-pedigreed ones), but not necessarily much higher than I suspected they would. This ex-Slg. Niggeler AE of Metapontum was such a special coin that I actually wasn't at all surprised to see it hammer at 520 CHF. I was hoping this 4g bronze chalkous, published in Johnston, might slip under the radar, but no luck (550 CHF). However, I was just a bit surprised (again, as when it hit 550 CHF at Leu 6) to see the Kleinkunst-Moretti AE of Medma reach 900 CHF (given the flakey patina). But -- a rare coin with an important backstory -- the sky's the limit. Especially at an auction where people with the money for those come looking for them!
Me, throwing out thousands in bids on dozens of lots, knowing I'm walking away empty handed for the third Leu auction in a row... I really need to consign some coins to their next auction - better than cashing in on crypto!
Got 4/6 I wanted… but as always the two I lost were two I wanted most! Hopefully the first one ended up in the hands of our very own @Roman Collector ! Will post the wins when they arrive… the losses:
Congratulations, @Restitutor! I'm sorry you didn't win the Faustina I. I didn't outbid you; I already have a specimen of that one!
That Probus ant must have gone to a collector with deep pockets! I got a few coins, and lost out on even more. But overall, I was happy with the wins. I added a new emperor/usurper to the collection; Marius. 190 CHF for that coin was within my limits, and an acceptable prize.
I've never understood why, but always appreciated how coins like that one go for ~$750 (estimated from 600CHF + 20%) while coins like these end up in group lots averaging $15-20 per coin Perhaps it's the dramatic portrayal of the battle scene on the reverse that adds $700 to the price tag? Sadly, it looks like dealers and more serious collectors found Leu's large lot category, as I haven't been able to win a large lot from Leu since early 2021, even on reasonably aggressive bids. I had considered taking a break from ancient coins to work on retro video games for a bit, but prices there have gone even more insane!
That's why I have been focusing more old Old Hollywood autographs. Prices have come down over the years and people from the 1930s and 1940s are now dying in droves so collections are being broken up. Been grabbing what I can get.
I went 1/2, after somehow going 6/6 in their last auction. I'm pretty happy with this one that I won. KINGS OF BITHYNIA. Ziailas, circa 250-230 BC. AE (Bronze, 18 mm, 4.89 g, 1 h). Diademed head of Ziailas to right. Rev. BAΣIΛE[ΩΣ] / ZIAHΛA Tropy of arms. Mørkholm, Early Hellenistic Coinage, 416. SNG von Aulock 243. The coin previously sold at Nomos for 480 CHF, so my winning bid of 500 was fair. ACSearch shows four copies, and in 2011 at Triton XIV, one hammered at 1800 USD. The Triton listing states it was the fourth known, but since the others listed on acsearch came later, I'm not sure if they were later discoveries or one of the original four - so there's between four and seven around. Of those on acsearch, this one is the best. Normally Ziailas would be too late for my collection, as it's past what I define as "The Era of the Diadochi." However, I've been looking into creating one or more "bridges" between my Hellenistic collection and my Roman one, and since I already have Nikomedes I, I decided to pick this up as the most difficult coin in the Bithynian bridge.
Almost all my bids got blow away by a huge margin, but I am very happy to have got a lot of Islamic coins for 75 Chf. At least 4 of the 9 coins in the lot are clearly of Timur (Tamerlane).
I was the underbidder on the Didia Clara Sestertius (just look at that yellow tone!) but made the winner pay dearly for not letting me have it (1.200 SFR after an opening bid of 75)
My thought as well. It's great 'slow TV'. The only downside is that, in spite of all good intentions, you may be tempted to bid. (something about the mind being strong and the flesh weak. Or the other way around.) Long story short: I received Leu's invoice this morning.
Colts have been pricey lately (I'm regretting not bidding more strongly a couple years ago!), but I agree, that's crazy! Another example: there were two of these very common Agathokles bronzes in the sale, both quite nice, but 1400 CHF and 550 CHF? Geez. Here's the more expensive one: It sold for 850 CHF in 2020, also in Leu. Very obvious cleaning scratches and smoothing. I just don't get it. Well, actually, I think I do: uneducated collectors with plenty of money stashed in offshore tax havens, making life worse for the rest of us. Well, except maybe for lower grade rarities, as @Ryro noted. I managed to snag this rare Festival of Isis coin for only 142 CHF: Congrats, sounds like a great snag! Indeed, outside of Greek and Roman it's easier to get a deal. I came away with one Byzantine and one Medieval: ^ This one's a very rare tornese of John V and John VI Palaeologus. I've been trying for a John V for ages and ages... finally getting one, with John VI as a bonus, is great! Still, not cheap at 480 CHF. This one was cheap though (55 CHF): Knights of Rhodes (Knights Hospitallers). Hélion of Villeneuve, 1319-1346. Gigliato (Silver, 29 mm, 3.68 g, 6 h). ✠ •FR:ЄLIOn •D'•VILA•nOVЄ•DI•GRA•mR• Grand Master Hélion of Villeneuve kneeling left before patriarchal cross set on three steps. Rev. ✠ OSPITAL'•S•IOhIS•IRLnI•QT'•RODI• Cross fleurée with shields of Hospitallers at ends of each crossbar. Hélion was involved in the famous story of "The Dragon of Rhodes," which was probably a crocodile. Its head hung above one of the castle gates until 1837!
I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one who watches auctions for entertainment! Usually I do that with ones with live auctioneer/video-feed. As @Ignoramus Maximus says, though, it can be a challenge to stay out if you don't intend to bid. Apparently I'm especially susceptible to bid callers with a certain British accent... and once they've lured me into making the first bid, if they start talking to me through video monitor, "Just one more bid, internet?" Old chap? I even caught myself one time, after logging out to resist his influence, wondering if he could see who's logged in on his monitor, and worrying I'd hurt the pleasant fellow's feelings! Amazing what goes through the mind in the heat of the moment. Below, I only intended to bid on the Alexander gold stater from Morton & Eden, Auction 104 in 2019, at Sotheby's. After winning my first lot, though, I (completely irrationally) felt a connection ... or wanted the approval of the bid caller or something crazy ... and it may have been one reason I started bidding again! Walked away with two more coins (from one lot, so three coins in two lots total): And, by sheer luck, I later happened to find that owl pictured in a couple of my old fixed price lists c. 1974-5! (Harlan J Berk FPL #2 & Dennis Weaver Nov. 1975 w/ Tom Stanton.) No such luck yet for the other two coins. Now, I know in my rational mind that M&E's lovely British-accented bid-caller isn't responsible for me finding a fun 45-year old lost provenance, but all-in-all, I still think of him and his hypnotic voice with fondness! Seeing the live bidding at Stack's recent auction, I wonder how much that exuberant, charismatic bid-caller was responsible for the Constantine GLORIA EXCERCITVS AE3 hammering at $1,560 (the pre-bid was only $500).
