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 Replies: 35 / Views: 4,499 |
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Valued Member
United States
404 Posts |
Has anyone been to any antique/estate/coin auctions lately? Seems lately a lot of people have been over paying by a lot for items at the auctions I've been attending. Just curious if anyone else has noticed this? I was at a 450 lot multi estate auction over the weekend, most of the items were going for around what they should be, until they got to the coins... 1993 ASE Proof - definitely not a pf70 probably not even a 69 (I'm no expert though) sold for $110 plus fees 8 1980's (4-84, 4-86 if I remember) Proof sets sold for $75 plus fees 6 1999-2000 Proof sets sold for $110 plus fees a box of silver coins - I counted $33 in melt value(none were in condition over mv), a SLQ, merc dime, 40% half and a couple other small pieces sold for $60 plus fees. 250 wheat pennies - none were in good condition, and they wouldn't allow you to examine the bag, but just seeing what I could were 1930s+ sold for $50 plus fees. This is when I left, if these items were selling for over 1.3x what they are going for on ebay, I'm not going to get roped into a bidding war. Figured it wasn't my day, I'll wait for another and hope to get some bargains. Do they assume since they're at an auction they're getting a good deal? Or does the "just one more bid and I'll get it" come into play? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7840 Posts |
It's easy to get "wrapped up" in auction fever, not just in numismatics, I have paid dearly in antiquities as well.  Been there, done that, education is expensive!  Edited by oih82w8
11/07/2011 2:58 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
I can't imagine anyone paying that much for modern clad proof sets. My dealer can't give them away.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1372 Posts |
I don't invest any time or emotional capital in "auction style" listings on ebay at all. I never even look at them. I cruise the buy it now listings and could do that for weeks on end. That way, find what you want, offered at a price you like, and push the button. No time invested in thinking about how cool it's going to be to get this or that ... and get beat out by a nickel after straining at the end of the leash for a week. I bought an 1846 Large Cent yesterday ... for $4.50 shipped. There are so many listings on there that if you look long enough, or develop the right search techniques, the stuff's there to be had. Chance |
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Valued Member
 United States
404 Posts |
I guess that's one thing I've learned by doing a lot of buying and selling on ebay...as much as I might want something, I have to set a limit before I start bidding and hold to it. Because the "just one more bid" almost never works. |
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Valued Member
Canada
272 Posts |
It seems to me to be happening on E Bay too, and only just recently (the last 10 days or so) I have noticed a dramatic rise in the going rates for Mercs and Roosevelts.
I have been trying to wrap my mind around the reason but not comeing up with anything, I mean silver is down compared to a few months back so that cant be it.
I think sellers may want to be careful, getting greedy is not going to help, a coin is worth only so much (unless it is rare) and trying to out sell the market could be detrimental to this hobby..
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Valued Member
United States
404 Posts |
That's what I was thinking wiffo...they had 51 clad proof sets, and I set my limit at 90 for all of them, knowing they don't sell that well. It may seem a little low, but bottom line is I need to make a profit also. It's not an item I collect, so if I can get a good deal I'll take them, if not oh well.
I'm glad I left when I did before I got caught up bidding just to win something.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1745 Posts |
I sometimes resemble this remark: Quote:
It's easy to get "wrapped up" in auction fever, not just in numismatics, I have paid dearly in antiquities as well.
Been there, done that, education is expensive! Sometimes the deals aren't there, like Kenny Rogers says, you have to "know when to hold them, know when to fold them,...." |
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Valued Member
United States
320 Posts |
I've noticed a similar trend over the last few months-- and I attribute it to the growing suspicion that (despite the governmental statements to the contrary) inflation is setting in or has set in and will be getting worse shortly.... and even people who are not into numismatics know that coins tend to be a hedge against inflation, so they buy them up. And it is the "low-end" stuff that sells the quickest, because those with the $$ to spend on "the good stuff" do just that.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
Every auction that I go to at my local coin show is either extremley cheap or they dont sell. There's usually only about 8-10 people ther at most.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
9159 Posts |
When I go to an auction go early and price the coins. The ones on Sat. where in zip lock bags , but you could pick the bags up and look. When the bidding got around the market price I stopped,and the next guy got it for another 2-5 bucks  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
There aren't many auctions around here that have coins. I went to one a couple years ago that had a few coin lots. There were several lots of junk silver, a couple trays with older foreign coins, an album of non-silver Kennedy's & a lot that had several mint sets plus a Capital Commemorative set with a 1/4 oz. gold coin. All of the lots went for 3 to 5 times what they should have until it got to the last lot. It was the one with the gold. Just me & one other guy were bidding & he dropped out at $100.....at that time the gold was worth almost $250. You never know.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
Along the lines of what trdhrdr007 said, I think the time the lot comes up in the auction can really influence price. Although this isn't a coin example, just yesterday I was at a jewelry auction with my girlfriend. The ring she like best came up very close to the end of the auction. By then at least half the people had already left and we were the only bidders, so we got a good deal. I'm positive that if that lot came up at the start of the auction there would be other bidders and we'd have to pay significantly more for it. I suspect coins would work the same way.
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Hmmm, sadly I live in a very remote area, so I only get to bid on the "on-line" auctions (which is probably actually a good thing, for I'm sure that I'd get swept-up in the moment and start making grandiose high-signs like the big-wigs on TV ... or maybe big swooping air-guitar high-signs => yah, it would be kinda like being at an auction with "Slash", from Guns-n-Roses!) ... anyway ... What I was gonna say is => "ideally", I try to search through the auction beforehand and find the items that I want to bid on (and that I can afford) ... then I think about my maximum bid and then I back-calculate, adding-on the 18% taxes & fees that you're gonna have to pay ... then I make my maximum bids and I don't even look at them again until "after" the auction, to see which of them (if any) I won ...... otherwise, it can get ugly => if I do ever "stay-in-the-pocket" and sit at my computer while the auction is in full-swing, I end-up pecking at the bid-button, like a hungry chicken! Man, just last month I spent a fortune at the last Torex auction ... *sigh* (there's a sucker born every minute! ) => but man, was it ever awesome! (I'd love to go to a live auction!)  Oh, and unlike some of the statements on this thread => I'm finding that the prices are trending about 75% of catalogue value, so I'm snatching stuff up! (it's a buyer's market! ... or at least a "collector's market"?) |
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Valued Member
United States
137 Posts |
People around me go CRAZY! The auctions are usually estate auctions with some coins added in. Here is an example of one that actually went fairly low lately. bags with 100 Silver Dimes $275 - $350 There were over 5000 total dimes bags with 100 Silver Quarters $750 - $900 There were over 3500 total quarters bags with 20 Silver Halves $350 - $500 Common Morgan and Peace dollars $50 - $110 One auctioneer puts 10 wheat cents in a bag and usually gets at least $4 for them. Needless to say I do not get to buy much! |
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Pillar of the Community
1028 Posts |
Quote:I guess that's one thing I've learned by doing a lot of buying and selling on ebay...as much as I might want something, I have to set a limit before I start bidding and hold to it. Because the "just one more bid" almost never works.  Very good advice, I've even written it down before. On ebay I only look at the auction style listings and I like the suspense of when it comes down to the wire. Most of the "buyitnow" listings are such garbage. They are always way overpriced. I haven't found one I liked in over a year. I get really excited when I pull off a "steal" on some auction way below its value, but this is balanced by the disappointment when I want something and I just watch the price rise and rise and I know its over my own "limit" |
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Replies: 35 / Views: 4,499 |
Posted 11/07/2011 3:07 pm
