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 Replies: 23 / Views: 5,435 |
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Valued Member
United States
231 Posts |
I am always looking for new sources of U.S classic and commem coins. What do experienced collectors think of Heritage Auctions? They have an excellent selection although when buyers fee (20%), sales taxes and shipping fees are added it significantly adds to the purchase price. Just wondering what other collectors think and if they have other sources they recommend. Thanks
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
I've bought a few coins from them, but nothing in the last couple years. With the buyers premium, shipping, tax; for me its only an option for something special. The total spend is usually pretty high, so not the place for me to go for common stuff IMO. But they do have some amazing stuff when when a top coin comes along to justify the upsell.
I've always had solid experiences with their customer service.
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Moderator
 United States
188105 Posts |
I have an account, but never made a purchase. I only signed up for the information (access to past sales and images).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5029 Posts |
Quote:
I have an account, but never made a purchase. I only signed up for the information (access to past sales and images). Same for me. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
I have bought from them.
When I see something I'm interested in:
1. I determine what I believe to be the current retail value, then
2. I subtract 25% from that to cover all the fees.
That's what I bid.
More often than not I get outbid.
But I do NOT increase my bid.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
I really respect Heritage and have bought and sold on a semi-regular basis (4-5 times a year). Their database (free) is of incalculable value to me. But for most items worth $2,000 or less, I much prefer Great Collections for selling because their fees are free or next to nothing. It's a great firm with a skyrocketing reputation.
Edited by Coinfrog
11/05/2020 7:40 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5178 Posts |
I signed up a couple of months ago with Heritage Auctions and participated twice in an auction (proxy only). In both cases I was outbid in the "live" session, by a fractional amount. Left me a bit skeptical.
Don't see the purpose of dragging out an auction by first having internet bidding ("proxy") followed by "live bidding" with a robot. Might as well skip the proxy bidding and only participate in the live bidding. But then you have to sit there and keep clicking... seems to defeat the purpose of internet bidding.
Anyhow, as was mentioned upthread their fees are very high. I would probably only use them for very rare coins that you badly need for your collection. HA does seem to offer a lot of quality in the upper echelons though.
Edited by NumisEd
11/05/2020 7:51 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
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Valued Member
 United States
231 Posts |
Thanks all. I have also bought from David Lawrence Rare Coins and Executive Coin Company and I have been very pleased with those dealers. Much more reasonable fees.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1298 Posts |
The fees for Heritage, Stack's Bowers, and Legend's are way too high for me. I bought many coins them when the buyer's premium was 15%. None since the buyer's premium went to 20%.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
999 Posts |
If you are looking for spectacular coins in the $1000+ price range, then Heritage has a lot to offer. Similar to others, I've signed up for an account and enjoy looking at items, but haven't bought anything yet. Like many auction sites, it's hard to know what shipping would be. I called them up to get a ballpark and they said about $50. That's to Canada but maybe less to US address.
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Valued Member
United States
425 Posts |
I have never bid for a coin. I will leave that to others.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1768 Posts |
I've 'won' one coin from a Heritage Auction. It arrived in a cracked holder. When I called customer service, they were fantastic. They sent me a Fed Ex label (via Fed Ex) to send it back to them for reholder. They got a new NGC holder and CAC sticker and sent it back to me.
All that said, it is generally more expensive as others have mentioned. I have participated in many of their auctions and probably will continue to - you just need to be patient. And it is a great resource that I use all the time.
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CCF Advertiser
United States
1533 Posts |
I buy from HA all the time. Its great for the rarer stuff. You can make offers on things in their inventory as well and they have daily buy/sell sheets on common gold you have access to.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
I've bought 2 coins from HA and I'm fairly pleased with them. Their fees are pretty excessive but as long as you add them into your bid before bidding you should be ok.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
An equivalent experience:
Noble Numismatics in Sydney has a highly respected international reputation that is the equivalent of Heritage. Noble Numismatics auction up to $10 million value in lots in two specialist numismatic auctions per year.
They have a support reference library that would be the in to top 5 largest in the World.
Over about the last decade quite a few items have found their way into my collection via this business. I always attend their view days and make single written fixed price bids, after close in hand examination. I never actually attend th auction.
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Replies: 23 / Views: 5,435 |
Posted 11/05/2020 4:18 pm
