Hey,
Believe it or not valuable un-slabbed smalls like dimes and pennies and even nickels can often go unnoticed by an auctioneer selling 'large' quantities of coins(especially silver dollars and halves) at a single auction.
Many times an auctioneer will not have the time to cherry-pick through all of these coins and would prefer to concentrate on known guaranteed payback items having larger, more discernible print.
Also NEVER ASUME that an auctioneer's visual acuity is up- to-snuff with an up-to-date eyeglass prescription.
How many times have you heard from someone, "Man. I just can't focus on this thing closeup." and then they take off their glasses in relief?
IMHO,
mdpmedia