There's no crying in ancient-coin-selling-on-eBay!!! ;-)

I have no axe to grind. I'm not crying, complaining, whining, criticizing, bemoaning, or begrudging. Nor do I have any regrets. I simply want to give an example, in case some one(s) may find it interesting, of what to expect when a regular bloke such as moi sells ancient coins on eBay.

I recently sold a lot of 66 ancient coins on eBay in one fell swoop (along with a handful of other individual coins). I have 900 feedbacks, have a 100% feedback "score", and have been selling/buying for well over a decade. Point being: I'm not a newbie to eBay and I have a good/stable/proven track record.

Now, with ALL that as background, take a look at the ancient coins below, then estimate what they are "worth" and if you dare, please post your guesstimate of what the hammer price was for the entire lot of 66 ancient coins. (No fair peeking on eBay!) I'll post the answer tomorrow.

Did I mention it was SIXTY-SIX ancient coins! (Granted they are merely common, AE4, LRB's -- which get little respect as a general rule.) BTW: All include either a Cross or a Tau-Rho.

One quick caveat: Only the first 54 are shown below (9 pics of 6 each) because the system (quite understandably) limits the number of pictures a poster can include in a single post. Just know that the last 12 are exactly comparable to those shown below.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Below are the additional 12:

 

$70

 

$120

 

I won't guess, because I was watching.

 

Hmm if it was no reserve you probably got burned. I'll guess $1.50 per coin or $99.

 

@philologus_1, ...mostly, I'm just scared to find out. But can't not look forward to your report of what actually happened. Like the news, and horror movies (the former of which I need ...rendering the latter completely redundant).
Commiserations. Already.
...And, why not. If anyone can (um, find and) sell me an example of one of those minims of Arcadius, Alexandria mint, that have that cool variant of the 'Chi-Rho' monogram, with that vague resemblance to the Ankh.
(Contemporaneous Coptic Christians, who adopted the Ankh as another variant of the cross, would have gotten that. No, I Don't have that on any respectable documenatry authority.)

 

200 dollars. Maybe you didn't include similar coins with scarce or even rare Emperors and Empresses on obverse. Good luck anyway..

 

Based on your (presumed) infrequent ancient coin selling status, I would suggest that (around) $2-$3 per coin would be the (avg.) going rate for these. Roughly $165 total

If you received less than that, you may have had better success breaking it up into lots of 4-6 coins -- Around $10-18 per lot. Roughly $180-$200 total.

Selling on eBay is all about visibility. Those that sell regularly and having established a reputation, often have 'followers'/repeat customers. They generally also command better closing prices than the seller that is offering coins every once in a while.

I wouldn't be surprised to see an established eBay seller get $4-$5 per coin selling these in small lots. Of course, more work would be involved with processing more sales.

 

In round numbers... $100

 

I'll go lower since you took the time to post...$32?

 

I do not really focus on LRB's, so I really would not have a clue. I hope it was high £'s.

 

I see two types of buyers being interested in these. First would be a would be dealer who would have them slabbed in off brand plastic and try to sell them for $19.95 to people who will not be long term collectors. Second would be someone looking for low priced gifts for a scout troop or Sunday school class. Beginners of the level who would want one or a few of these coin would not want all 66 and I just did not see all that many that would be easy resales to knowledgeable collectors of low priced coins. I saw one I would buy if the group was in a $5 'you pick' pot at a show.

I agree with Herodotus that you might have done better breaking them up into lots of 6 carefully sorted to include a few different coins in each lot.

 

Hey, I'd have offered $200 just cause of that sweet Arcadius... if I was heavily into LRBs at the moment and caught that lot.
However, we're playing a guessing game, much like your price is right
and you go low or high or you go home without your shirt:

[edited]

 

$33.

 

Somebody give this guy a pay raise!

 

Would you like it as much if it were another Valentinian II? Looking again, the variety here even on mints is not that great. Does anyone specialize in ValII?

 

I was looking at this lot and bailed out when it got too kuch for me

 

Personally I think these could have gone individually for up to $10 each.