Canadian Coin Auction Comparison - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 13 / Views: 3,166
Cdncoins Pillar of the Community Canada 999 Posts	Posted 05/12/2021 8:02 pm Given the lack of coin shows over the past year in Canada, we have seen an increase in auction interest. Here are the main auction companies in Canada and details on them. I have found that most of them have made an effort to improve the photos of the items compared to what you would see a year ago. I've ranked these based on a combination of selection and quality of items, attractiveness of buyers premium plus other fees, and showing the amount past items sold for (or did not sell for). 1) Colonial Acres • They have monthly auctions. A couple times a year they have a Premier auction, which is two days and includes a larger variety of items. • 15% buyers premium, but adjusted down by 3% if not paying with PayPal or credit card. • They include the winning bid on past auctions. • A good to very good selection of items, especially for Premier auctions. 2) Canadian Numismatic Company • They have weekly auctions on Mondays. They are also the auctioneer for the RCNA Convention and have the Prominence Sale, which is a massive four day auction. • 19% buyers premium and 22% using credit card when bidding online. For some reason it is cheaper in person or over the phone. • They include the winning bid on past auctions. • The weekly auctions can have a good variety, but don't always. The larger auctions often have an excellent selection of items, including high end. 3) Geoffrey Bell Auctions • Used by the Toronto Coin Expo twice a year and they have a few others as well. • These guys are the most expensive! It is a 20% buyers premium plus 3% if paying with PayPal or credit card, plus $5 for "packaging and processing". • On past auctions they do not say what the winning bid was, only the starting price and estimate. • Generally a very good selection of items. 4) McLean Auctions • They do not specialize in numismatics, but rather occasionally will have an auction focused on this area. They also have auctions for estate, auto equipment, tools, etc. • 13% buyers premium, but adjusted down by 3% if not paying with PayPal or credit card. There is also a handling fee of $5 per envelope or $15 per package. • On past auctions they do not say what the winning bid was. • Selection tends to be OK. Mainly lower end items, with a few nice items sprinkled in. 5) Auction Network • Frequent auctions, often three per week. • 18% buyers premium, but adjusted down by 2% if using etransfer. • On past auctions they do not say what the winning bid was. • Often includes some jewelry, artwork, sports cards or watches in their auctions. Selection is mainly RCM products and common items. Sometimes there are surprises. Report this Post to the Staff

silverwolf Pillar of the Community Canada 3733 Posts	Posted 05/12/2021 8:07 pm very nice compilation, I would agree with auction network at the bottom, for many reasons.. But the main one is they outsource their shipping.. and rates vary from expensive to stupid expensive.. Colonial should be near the top, as their shipping fees, are inline with the same prices they charge on their website.. Report this Post to the Staff
Levaril Valued Member Canada 289 Posts	Posted 05/12/2021 9:19 pm I would probably rate TCNC at the top myself. Their weekly Monday auctions are nothing to write home about but their big ones have the best selection by far. GB is not bad at times too for sure. Colonial seems to me to be mostly filler. If you are looking for higher end items there is often a reason they are being offered there, so be wary. I think a lot of it is left over stuff at the store that they want to liquidate, but that's just a guess. I wouldn't typically look seriously at the Auction Network. Report this Post to the Staff
SPP-Ottawa Moderator Canada 10456 Posts	Posted 05/12/2021 9:33 pm While I won't name names, one company if you bid using their own online auction system, chances are you'll be paying your maximum bid every time. Same company, you will bid on a desirable item, and lose as the under bidder - yet, in future auctions, there is the exact same item (likely owed by the auction house). Same company - even if you identify a garage job error during the viewing at coin shows, they will not pull the item. ECA - Encheres Champagne Auctions is more antiquities and fine art, but also a good source for interesting and rarer coins. Jeffrey Hoare auctions (they used to do the CAND show auctions) used to be quite good. Stan Wright of Diverse Equities used to run good auctions in western Canada coin shows. I hated Chuck Moore as an auction house - no longer in business, as Chuck passed away after the Landon Collection auctions, so I don't mind saying that. "Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert Oppenheimer Content of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_US My eBay store Report this Post to the Staff
SPP-Ottawa Moderator Canada 10456 Posts	Posted 05/12/2021 9:36 pm A recent partnership happened in the past year. Sean Isaacs of Alliance Coin & Banknote has partnered up with Geoffrey Bell Auctions and Coin Expo, for the fall show session one auction. Sean usually has really funky and interesting stuff, and being local to Ottawa, having a local place for consigning coins is highly convenient. "Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert Oppenheimer Content of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_US My eBay store Report this Post to the Staff
MoneyPenney Pillar of the Community Canada 2984 Posts	Posted 05/14/2021 8:20 pm A correction is needed for Colonial acres: Quote: 1) Colonial Acres • They have monthly auctions. A couple times a year they have a Premier auction, which is two days and includes a larger variety of items. • 15% buyers premium, but adjusted down by 3% if not paying with PayPal or credit card. • They include the winning bid on past auctions. • A good to very good selection of items, especially for Premier auctions. Colonial Acres buyer's premium is 18% with 3% discount if you don't use PayPal or credit card. Report this Post to the Staff
Proof Nut Valued Member Canada 393 Posts	Posted 05/15/2021 2:00 pm @MoneyPenny Thank you for posting the correction regarding CAC auctions. Colonial Acres is my go to auction house for buying and selling for a number of reasons: 1) they are local to me so I can view items before bidding but have only on rare occasions used this option for their premier auction in Mississauga or if there was any question regarding the lot. Nice not to have to pay for shipping and processing fees! 2) very simple process of registering (through Facebook or Google) but you need to get approved for each future auction which makes sense and takes just a few minutes. 3) friendly and knowledgeable dedicated staff who are in communication with you throughout the whole process. 4) convenience of being able to bookmark items, track sale prices and instant notifications when someone has outbid you on an item or that the lot will be closing soon. 5) very high sellout percentage and low consignor fees of 5% and in some cases 0% if you tell them you are a coin club member. I realize that some of the auction houses mentioned may use the same platforms and offer similar services but have found that CAC Auctions are best suited to my needs and I have been pleased with the overall results for the items consigned. Edited by Proof Nut 05/15/2021 2:01 pm Report this Post to the Staff
DBM Pillar of the Community Canada 9862 Posts	Posted 05/15/2021 2:14 pm Quote: low consignor fees of 5% and in some cases 0% That is definitely a plus, some auctioneers charge up to 30% seller fees for coins. "Dipping" is not considered cleaning... -from PCGS website Report this Post to the Staff
doubleeagle59 Pillar of the Community Canada 2495 Posts	Posted 05/17/2021 09:35 am Overpriced starting price, add taxes, add buyer's fee and then shipping charge and you have a recipe for overpayment. No thanks to any and all auctions for me, unless it is a true auction starting at a very low price. Edited by doubleeagle59 05/17/2021 09:36 am Report this Post to the Staff
john100 Pillar of the Community Canada 5324 Posts	Posted 05/17/2021 11:19 am If not auctions where would the coolest stuff change hands, although 20% is really steep it probably is the only way to find true value. Report this Post to the Staff
MoneyPenney Pillar of the Community Canada 2984 Posts	Posted 05/18/2021 02:26 am Quote: No thanks to any and all auctions for me, unless it is a true auction starting at a very low price. That may be great if you are a buyer but not if you are the owner of the coin. I would not be happy if my high value item sell for peanuts because there are not enough bidders for it. Report this Post to the Staff
chequer Pillar of the Community Canada 4227 Posts	Posted 05/21/2021 07:19 am Quote: 3) Geoffrey Bell Auctions • Used by the Toronto Coin Expo twice a year and they have a few others as well. • These guys are the most expensive! It is a 20% buyers premium plus 3% if paying with PayPal or credit card, plus $5 for "packaging and processing". • On past auctions they do not say what the winning bid was, only the starting price and estimate. • Generally a very good selection of items. These guys are the most transparent. For past auctions, all you have to do is sign into iCollector - this is something iCollector has implemented, I believe, not the auction house. And here's a tip, if you email bids in advance, the buyers' premium is lower. Report this Post to the Staff
collectorx New Member Canada 24 Posts	Posted 06/01/2021 02:01 am Quote: These guys are the most transparent. For past auctions, all you have to do is sign into iCollector - this is something iCollector has implemented, I believe, not the auction house. And here's a tip, if you email bids in advance, the buyers' premium is lower. @chequer You are spot on, this is iCollector requiring user to sign in to see prices. You can see GBA results going back to 2008. If you click on the "View Terms & Conditions" link for their last auction you see much more detail about hammer premiums. They are on par with with Colonial if you bid via email, fax, phone or floor (when that becomes available). Personally I have used phone during the pandemic but agree that Colonial has the edge on premiums if using iCollector and payment method does not incur the 3% (which I am happy to use!). The cataloguing by Colonial can be a bit shaky when outside of their comfort zone of Canadian decimal coins & banknotes, RCM and bullion. But they are super responsive to corrections. I am not a fan of the lot ordering for Colonial monthly auctions, there is no grouping by type so painful to find items in your areas of interest (Kirk, Todd - I hope you are reading this ). Their Premier auctions are top notch. Report this Post to the Staff
Cdncoins Pillar of the Community Canada 999 Posts	Posted 06/02/2021 11:21 am MoneyPenney: Thanks for the correction on the Colonial buyers premium. I logged in and see the past realized prices now with Bell Auctions. Under their terms and conditions on the website they say buyers premium is 20% for online and 15% for floor. There is no mention on the premiums for the other types of bids. It would be more time and effort for them to deal with email, phone and fax bids than online bids. I'm not sure why these would be cheaper. I guess iCollector takes a cut, but still, isn't their time worth something? It seems very old school. I still put Colonial at the top, even with their somewhat jumbled order of items . Report this Post to the Staff
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