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 Replies: 20 / Views: 2,784 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
The problem with buying things on ebay (one of the many problems with buying things on ebay, that is) is that it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of bidding and end up paying more for something than you originally intended. Usually, I try to avoid that by waiting until the last second before bidding so I don't give myself the chance to increase my bid if outbid. Yesterday, though, I promised my wife I'd hit the mall with her and my son to do the final round of Christmas shopping, so I placed a very generous bid on a coin just before we left. When we finally took a break for lunch, I logged into ebay via my iPhone and noticed that the auction still had a few minutes left. I had been outbid, but only because the previous high bidder had bid something like 6 or 7 times in a row trying to barely beat my high bid. Well, I couldn't let him get away with that! And so, with fleeting seconds left to go I upped my bid by a significant amount, just in case, and let it fly. Unfortunately, somebody else had the same idea and I ended up winning the auction for exactly my high bid amount (the other guy bid $257 and I bid $257.87 -- since the current high bid at the time was only $195, it didn't matter that mid bid was less than a full "bid increment" above his bid). Anyway, here is the coin I just paid $257.87 for (the pics are from the ebay auction):   I'm sure the coin has been cleaned and there's a weird blotch on the shield on the reverse, but to my semi-trained eye I'd say it has something like AU-50 details. According to Numismedia.com, an AU-50 is worth $540 and even an XF-40 comes in at $276. Hopefully I'm not too far off in my assessment. I'm assuming, btw, that the pictures were taken using a scanner, hence the dull appearance of the coin. I'll know a lot more when I have it in hand, but I'm hoping it looks at least as good in hand as it does in the pics. So... whaddayathink? BTW, here's a pic of the coin I bought this to replace:  I just couldn't stand looking at it anymore, but I'll save it for my son so he can put it in the 7070 album I plan to give him some day. |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Truth? I think you beat yourself somewhat on this. Two days ago, a PCGS-slabbed XF40 with the same level of detail as this coin went for $253 at Heritage. I don't believe your coin reaches AU Details. Have to wait and see what it looks like in-hand, though.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5855 Posts |
Yah, my original high bid was "only" $187, I suspect I could have had it for that price had I known ahead of time that I would be able to snipe it. As I said, it's a dangerous thing to get caught up in the excitement of bidding...
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
As I said, it's a dangerous thing to get caught up in the excitement of bidding...
Truth.  All the same, the beating wasn't horrible because you're ending up with a 150-year-old Half in pretty decent condition. It won't lose value. It's not like you just overpaid for an ASE.  |
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Valued Member
Australia
243 Posts |
I agree that you probably paid a little too much for this coin. In saying that, despite the fact that it has been cleaned, I think it is a great looking coin, definitely better than the one it is replacing.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
Looks like XF40 details and yes, bidding wars are usually a no-no. When a coin such as this goes that high ($258) I think shill and run. Also, Numismedia is a decent reference for retail pricing but it's high on most pieces. We've all been in bidding wars and you can use this as a lesson learned. I got into a bidding war a few years ago on a group of F/VF IHC and ended up paying twice what they were worth. I lost about $20 when I sold them so it was a cheap lesson. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
Heh. I haven't received the coin yet, but the seller keeps sending me messages telling me what an amazing eye for coins I must have to realize the value of the coin, that a coin dealer once told him it should sell for $375-425, and that it has AU "details." So, now I know two things for sure: The coin has definitely been cleaned and I definitely overpaid for it...  |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
You'll be OK. Your sense of humor remains intact. |
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Valued Member
United States
154 Posts |
I absolutely love this coin and would love to have one with this much detail (the best one in my collection is VF). Arrows and rays - they should bring them back. Anyway, I believe this one to be XF quality at best due to some of the wear, esp. on obverse in 12 o'clock (forehead hairline is worn smooth, one of the coin's high points). Still, at $275 ( Red Book list from Jan. 2011, the so-called 2012 Edition) you have a beautiful and quite valuable coin. Congratulations. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
Thank you, cinemabon! I'm excited to get it in hand and see if it's as nice as I think it will be. I certainly don't think I got as great bargain as the seller seems to think, but I'm happy to have paid a fair price for it.
Edited by barryg
12/13/2011 12:16 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
I like it, nice details, too bad its been dipped.
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Rest in Peace
United States
5375 Posts |
Yeah its not a bad piece by any means, you paid high by my standards, but I don't think really by a modest retail standard. I'd want to pay a lot less personally, but then again I often try to get stuff real cheap.
Edited by coinguybrian
12/15/2011 11:47 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
Yeah, well, as I said, I had originally hoped to get it for a maximum of $187 before bid fever took control. I'm hoping to get the coin today or tomorrow, so I'm reserving judgment on just how bad (or good) I did until I have it in hand. I will, of course, post pics!
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Rest in Peace
United States
5375 Posts |
Yep, definitely post pictures. I'd be interested to see how it looks. As for bid fever, use a sniping service...that eliminates most of it. You're more likely to win anyway and for a fairer price. I often just enter a huge number of bids into the sniping service, all low ones, and rely on statistics to pick up stuff at a low price. That is, unless I really want something, then I'll go up but I still use the service to put the bid in at the last second for me automatically.
I have actually had plenty of times where I won something for my EXACT high bid amount because I try to hit the exact increment in order to not have a situation where my high bid is one cent too short, but usually I was okay with it because I decided long before what I wanted to pay and I was willing to pay the maximum. In many cases, the stuff turned out better than expected, so it offset the higher bid. Using a sniping service is just challenging when you have limited time left, so figure things out the day before at least.
Edited by coinguybrian
12/15/2011 12:24 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5855 Posts |
Yep, as I said, I usually snipe to avoid this sort of situation. I prefer to do my sniping in person, however. Using a service just seems so... I dunno, cold and impersonal? That's just me, though.
And, hey - suddenly I'm a "Pillar"! When did that happen?
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
I would think the extra couple bucks were well spent to not have to look at the replaced coin. With luck the auction scanned images will reveal an even better looking coin in hand. |
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Replies: 20 / Views: 2,784 |
Posted 12/12/2011 09:00 am
