Featured Vindication for Overpaying ?

Have you ever overpaid for a coin you really wanted? I've fallen into that trap more than once . Several years ago I was determined to get my hands on a coin struck under Constantine I, with the reverse type of BEATA TRANQVILLITAS. The coin type had to depict Constantine I wearing the crested helmet. These coins are very common, almost as common as Lincoln wheat ear pennies (ironically they are about the same diameter and weight as these pennies) . The example I wanted had to be in mint state, an excellent strike with all lettering visible, as round as possible, and having an attractive uniform patina . The criteria I demanded greatly narrowed down the scores of these coins I had seen . Nice examples of these coins were available in the $30 - $50 range, but all fell short on at least one criterion . While browsing through a Heritage auction nearly two years ago I spotted a slabbed example of the coin that met all my criteria , pictured below. With spirited bidding I won the coin for $119.00, including the buyers premium. Immediately after winning the coin I felt foolish for paying so much for it , but justified the purchase considering someone paid at least $50 to get the coin slabbed.



This year I've noticed choice mint state slabbed examples of this coin type fetching over $200.00 at auction . Last Thursday I spotted a coin at the Heritage weekly auction almost as nice as my example and decided to track it for reference, see photos below. The coin sold for $312.00, including buyers premium ! Should I now feel vindicated for my purchase nearly two years ago, or just acknowledge there are other collectors just as foolish as me ....

Photos courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

 

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Good question!

You paid what you had to pay to win the coin you wanted at that moment in time. Ditto for the buyers of the recent sales. "Overpaying" is a tricky thing to define.

 

More importantly, did you free it from its plastic prison?

 

IMHO « overpaying » is when you buy a coin and :

• You can’t pay your loan
• You can’t feed your kids anymore
• or—and it is the most important point— your wife makes you sleep in the garage for a week...

 

frankig, I didn't intend for this thread to be another pointless argument of "slabbed coins versus raw coins". My thoughts on that topic have been posted a number of times already. The crux of this thread is "can overpaying for a coin be justified".

 

These very high quality Constantine bronzes are starting to fetch prices in the $300-400 range. I guess more collectors are interested in them. Both from vcoins and m-a shops.

 

You should feel vindicated. A great coin!

 

Thanks Pete . Two years ago I couldn't justify the purchase but today I can .

 

I would not crack out the coin from the plastic. This proves
authenticity and grade. When you or your heirs decide to sell
said coin it will be easier. Recouping your investment will also
be easier. Over the course of time, pride of ownership and
bragging rights will out weigh the cost. Nothing warms the heart
of a collector more than showing of a GEM of a coin like yours!!

 

Either way it's a beauty, and quality usually demands a horrific price scaling in my limited experience with the hobby. The real question is how many other coins in this sort of condition have sold in the last two years for much less due to not finding the right couple of bidders.

 

For all you know , the purchaser may have been the original owner who for a couple of years strongly regretted having sold it , and then having more cash, was able to buy a close replacement. I think all long time collectors have done this, I have.... Jim

 

I have overpaid sometimes (at least other fellow collectors were feeling that way) for discovering a few years later I was right because I couldn't aford anymore the coin in question.
And in some other cases I felt I had paid the right price, or even more so had got the coin for a bargain, and now the coin in question would sell for half the price

As stated by @TIF

@Al Kowsky, your coin is beautiful, it meets all the criteria you had defined, you seem to be happy with it

+ 5$ below, someone else would be its owner now

= You paid the right price

What else ?
Q

 

When I am in the market for a coin that I really want, I do a lot of research. In fact, it becomes a bit obsessive. And if I find a coin and a grade that I like at a price I think I can afford, I will move aggressively for it. And if it’s an auction, I might bid 10% or so over what I’m comfortable with, knowing that if I don’t get that one, I’m going to be obsessing about the type until I do. Those are my own hangups. But my point is, I feel my time is worth something. If paying a little more to get a coin I want means I can move on and obsess about something else, I am at peace with that. Clearly I need therapy.

 

Supply and demand. Your demand was greater than someones else. Be happy with the coin and enjoy it.

 

Your coin is a wonderful specimen!!!

I totally get the feeling....I believe I overpaid for my Herennius Etruscus sestertius.

When I initially saw it at the Morris collection auction on Heritage I knew I had to have it. However, on the day of the auction, I was shocked that the price was already so high. I attempted bidding, but the price went over the maximum I was willing to pay. I was devastated because I didn't think I would encounter another example of the same quality.

When I saw the exact same coin a few months later at a CNG auction I was ecstatic and I figured that I was willing to pay a bit more for the coin should it be necessary. After a bidding war with another individual, I won the coin and ended up paying over $300 more than it sold for at Heritage (when you include the buyer's fees). Initially, I was ok with that because I really wanted the coin. However, in the next auction the same type of coin (which is not exactly common) with a slighter lower quality obverse (IMO) sold for less than half of the price I paid. When I looked for the winner's handle (before CNG's new format) it turned out to be the same individual who drove up the price on my coin.

Needless to say, I wish that I continued to bid when the coin was originally at Heritage...but I guess you win some and lose some.

 

Al, baby, lighten up old man! Once you make your post, "I didn't intend for this" has no bearing on responses. You don't get the right to limit questions or observations; & that you think we would follow your threads & know your "thoughts" is ludicris.

@frankig asked a question (early, post #3) which I'm sure many of us were thinking, & it was a viable question.

So you're thinking you "overpaid" by $50 for a coin you really wanted, with specific requirements, while the cheaper options did not meet your specific requirements?

$50 should not have been an obstacle (that's only about 5 Starbucks); & now you see how value (read: cost) is always in a state of flux.

So you have a good deal...is it still entombed?

 

I never overpaid on a coin. I underpaid lots of times though...

I did once overpaid on 'handling' costs, that came as a surprise (no, not the usual auctioncosts, so, what are they then??), because I did not read the tiny letters (silly me). Never ordering overseas again...!

 

PlanoSteve, Maybe you are the one who should lighten up "old man". frankjg began his post with "More importantly,"; actually the most important idea in my thread was stated clearly "Should I be vindicated for overpaying for the coin", not weather the coin is slabbed or raw. I couldn't care less what frankjg or anyone else thinks about slabbing coins. Anyone who doesn't like slabbing coins can start another thread on the subject. Get my point?

 

tibor, I agree with you & have no intention of "cracking the slab". If & when the coin goes up for sale it will most likely bring much more in the slab, that's been my personal experience. Many more auction houses are warming up to slabbed coins including CNG & a number of overseas auction houses. Like it or not slabbed ancient coins are becoming more popular & acceptable in this hobby.

 

Le sigh. I really didn’t mean to start WWIII over a slightly tongue in cheek comment.

its a great coin.