question about auctions

That may be true but we also see examples of coins (the exact specimen) that have sold at auction (according to listings like acsearch) but we bought from a dealer for less than the price realized not even counting buyer's fee or postage. That suggests one of two things. Either the acsearch listing is a lie and the coin did not sell for that much but was wholesaled to a dealer who picks up 'remainders' for less or someone did buy the coin and later resold it at a loss. I'm sure both happen and I would love to feel comfortable knowing which is which. If I die today and my wife sends my coins to be auctioned, there is no guarantee that the coin I bought last year or in 1985 will sell again for as much. If she sells the whole batch to a dealer at shows (we all see this happen at shows), a dealer could well not care that the coin once sold for $1000 but only know they paid $100 so selling for $500 would seem a good profit.

Auctions were a lot more fun for me when fewer knowledgeable employees worked for the big sellers. There was a day when I could find Septimius Severus sleepers from Harlan Berk but he hired Curtis Clay and that put an end to that.

 

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I have to say that cointalk has been absolutely invaluable to me. Thank you everyone for all the information and help. I've learned a lot in the time I have been collecting and feel more confident now than when I started. But also hearing from so many other's opinions, thoughts and knowledge as well as all the fantastic coins you all share on here has been tremendous. As far as ebay is concerned, I guess maybe I've had a cynical view of it whether unfairly or not. I have mostly been trying to expand the places that I search for coins from and thank you everyone for your input and ideas.

 

That is true, but on the other hand, I tend to be alot more forgiving to some issues an ancient coin may have & I think alot of us here feel the same way. If we had the strict mentality that modern/u.s. collectors have with coins, then I doubt ancients would be as fun/enjoyable as they are to us.

 

Here some advice about buying ancient coins:

http://esty.ancients.info/numis/buying.html

and some comments about auctions in general and eBay in particular:

http://esty.ancients.info/numis/auction.html

These have been updated recently. If you are considering bidding in an auction, you need to know what they tell you.

 

Thanks for posting the links Warren.

 

what is the risk to buy a copy not original?

 

I have definitely seen the "from grandfather/grandfather's collection" listings on ebay before. Thank you Valentinian.