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 Replies: 7 / Views: 1,235 |
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Valued Member
United States
294 Posts |
Maybe it's me, but I was simply amazed at what I witnessed at a live auction today. Junk silver coins going way above melt, such as nine Mercury dimes from the 1930's going for $50. Then there was the five gram silver bars (marked .999 silver)going for $12.50 apiece. Then there was a one ounce rectangular bar. One side had what looked like a dollar bill design, with the buffalo from the nickel series, and the words "One Troy Ounce". The other side had the Indian portrait from the nickel, and the words "100 mills .999 gold". I'm thinking the gold bar is one ounce of metal, with 100 milligrams of gold plating. Bidding on the gold bar started at $200, with the widding bidder @ $500. What I'm thinking is the silver bars were worth about $4 or so at the current price of silver, and the gold bar having maybe $4 or so of gold. What I don't know is what the bidders were thinking. Please correct me if I'm wrong in my thinking on this. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4846 Posts |
ive seen those "gold bars" too.
just a scam, people don't bother to read descriptions and think its a full ounce of gold.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
Fear and ignorance seem to drive prices at a lot of live auctions these days, especially ignorance. You have a large number of people that are flush with cash and know nothing of metals or coin are jumping in the speculative swimming pool and buying gold, silver, and coin at astonishing prices. I have seen circulated Ike's sell for near $10 each, a 100 count modern foreign lot go for north of $50, regular 80's proof and mint sets going for $60 and up. It is just plain crazy. It is funny to be at an auction with a Red Book and a Blue book in my hand along with some pricing data printed from Numismedia and be standing beside a guy looking at the coinage when he asks one of the ring men how much something is worth (1975 mint set). The ring man responds with "I have seen those on ebay going for as much as $17,000", I think to myself well I will not get that one, I don't, a $9 set sold for more than $50. Edited by Tim Stroud
11/14/2010 07:02 am
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Valued Member
 United States
294 Posts |
I do see this alot when I go to these auctions. This one just struck me as ridiculous. The auctioneer described the gold bar as gold, was very specific reading the engravings, but never mentioned "plating" or "cladding". Somebody is learning an expensive lesson.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I always remember at a Gun auction I spotted someone I used to go to school with bidding on almost everything. Later, after the auction was over, I talked to him and found out he works for the auction place. His job was to bid on anything that appeared to not be going well as expected so as to bring up the prices. According to him this is a common practice at almost all auctions and difficult to prove. If he actually wins something, it just goes back up for auctioning at a later date. After that I sort of avoid auctions.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
Carl: They're called shills. This happened to me during a private transaction a year ago. I wanted to buy a Walker half from a friend, so after some time he calls his friend in and just happens to offer him double what I offered. I wanted to let him have it because at the time it was more than its weight in silver. Turns out I got it at $5 afterall, I'm no sap.
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Valued Member
United States
294 Posts |
This is why I sit near the back of the room during these things. I look around to see whose talking to who before the auction starts. One thing I won't do is bid once one of the runners places a bid. They have registration numbers and all, but who knows what they're actually doing. In PA it's actually illegal for the auction house to bid. But shills can be seeded anywhere in the house.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
This is why I sit near the back of the room during these things. I look around to see whose talking to who before the auction starts. One thing I won't do is bid once one of the runners places a bid. They have registration numbers and all, but who knows what they're actually doing. In PA it's actually illegal for the auction house to bid. But shills can be seeded anywhere in the house.
Didn't know they were called Shills but I heard around here they were called ringers. Regardless of what they are called, the guy that told me about this system mentioned it is illigal in Illinois also but sort of like can you prove it. And even if you could prove it, so what. Not a chance in h--- that the police would arrest someone for that. There are so many laws on the books that are ignored all the time as it is. Around me I think robbery is one of the ones ignored too. |
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Replies: 7 / Views: 1,235 |
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Posted 11/14/2010 07:01 am
