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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Volodya, post: 2794279, member: 19615&quot;]A couple of points from a somewhat different perspective: A number of people have stressed, correctly for the most part, that the 21st century Internet-based market is quite large compared to even the relatively recent past and is unlikely to be affected much or at all by a few people discussing bids on a few lots. That&#039;s an unobjectionable position regarding--say--an attractive and problem-free but not &quot;special&quot; tetradrachm of Alexander. The price of that hypothetical coin can be reliably predicted within pretty narrow parameters and isn&#039;t going to be changed much by a couple of friendly discussions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Matters are rather different in more rarefied strata of the ancient coin market. I think a lot of Coin Talk members might be surprised to learn how thin that market really is, how dramatically it can be affected by the actions of just a few collectors. A family emergency--say--or a cancelled flight or a drop in the price of oil in Russia can have substantial repercussions. Imagine a rare Imperatorial aureus, maybe the sixth known example and the second in private hands (again, a hypothetical; I&#039;ve no particular coin in mind), estimated at 50,000 CH at NAC. That coin might hammer at 250,000 francs if all prospective bidders are active, but at &quot;only&quot; 100,000 CH if a single likely buyer missed the auction. I think everyone can agree that&#039;s a significant difference. In this example the auction has been affected by circumstances, but clearly pre-auction discussions could end in the same result. The takeaway point is that a few people can affect the market in a major way.</p><p><br /></p><p>I can give a couple of personal examples, rather lower in the hierarchy, lol. There were some choice and rare victoriati in the last Triton, of broad desirability at a certain price level but &quot;worth&quot; substantially more than that price to only a handful of collectors. I had a pretty good idea who the strongest bidders on these coins were likely to be. Three lots in particular hammered at a combined $22,500. I bid on all of these and won none of them. A couple of emails (which I consciously declined to send, after considerable thought) could have changed this result substantially: maybe $15,000 combined hammer and at least one of these coins in my collection. I might have deferred to a friend on lots 1 and 3 and been given a green light on lot 2 in return.&nbsp; Not as dramatic a difference as in my first example, but still significant.</p><p><br /></p><p>When I sold my RR imitations collection a few years ago, I know for a fact that several people got together beforehand and &quot;arranged&quot; who would bid on which lot. Obviously, other bidders were free to compete as well and many did, but in the end this group won most of the coins in the collection. Now, this was a distinctly benign &quot;cabal&quot; of friends of mine which existed mostly to <b>protect </b>my interests by ensuring that all lots would sell. That did happen in the end and I was entirely satisfied with the overall results of the sale. I&#039;m not complaining at all. They were mostly establishing a base price, not a ceiling. Still, a few particular coins which I considered the best, most attractive and/or interesting pieces in the collection realized around estimate, rather less than I expected them to bring. It would&#039;ve been fun to see what might&#039;ve happened if there had been no prior arrangement and everyone had competed for those lots.</p><p><br /></p><p>One last point. There are real <i>ethical </i>issues involved in this stuff which I&#039;ve been wrestling with for a long time. I don&#039;t think the answer is as black and white or as easily resolved as a majority of posters here seem to. The legal &quot;issue&quot; is a red herring though, entirely imaginary; no one is ever going to be arrested for having a few discussions with their friends.</p><p><br /></p><p>Phil Davis[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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