On 8-20-24, my consignment of 11 Netherlands Wilhelmina 10-Gulden gold coins sold in an auction conducted by Heritage Auctions entitled “Netherlands & Dutch Colonies World Coins.” Overall, it was a good auction, and I made a nice profit from the set. Still, certain aspects of the auction reminded me of the old spaghetti western starring Clint Eastwood, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Thus, I will organize each aspect of this auction into those categories, starting with the Good.

My decision to consign my Netherlands coins to Heritage Auctions was a good one. I consigned the coins in May and waited until August for the lots to appear in the right auction dedicated solely to Netherlands coins. This ensured that only those collectors interested in Netherlands coins placed bids, and those bidders did not disappoint as they bid aggressively on all the key & semi-key dates in the auction.

One of the coins I consigned was an 1898 10-Gulden coin. This coin is the key date in the series graded by NGC at MS-66 with a population of one with none higher. PCGS has seven coins graded MS-66, with none higher. When I bought the coin, I thought I had paid too much for it and worried whether I would recover my original cost. That said, my coin had a lot going for it and, at this grade, maybe the nicest-looking coin of all the business strike 1898s in the world.

At the final hammer, with the buyer’s premium applied, my coin sold for more than twice what I paid for it! I felt relieved and could hardly believe what someone just paid for it. In fact, this coin may have set a Heritage record for the 1898 coin in this grade! Now, it’s for someone else to worry if they paid too much for this coin. In fact, little did I know before the auction that the profit I made on this coin did all the heavy lifting for my deadbeat coins and a costly mistake!

Another good thing is the spot price of gold. The cost of gold is much higher today than when I bought these coins. It lifted some coins high enough to overcome Heritage’s buyer and seller premiums. Remember that bidders place their bids with the buyer’s premium (20%) in mind. The seller worries if the final hammer will rise above their purchase price plus the seller’s premium (15%). Now for the Bad.

I lost a little money on some coins when I paid a premium over the spot price to acquire them. Fortunately, I purchased all these coins years ago when the price for an ounce of gold was much lower. Those dogs in my collection lost me money, but happily, not that much.

Fortunately, I didn’t need the proceeds from this auction anytime soon. I submitted the coins in May, the auction was in August, and I’ll be paid in October. If you need your money quickly, Heritage Auctions may not suit you. Still, waiting five months from consignment to payment is a long time. If you have the time, you have the luxury of waiting for your coins to be placed in the right auction. Sadly, the Ugly was really Ugly, and I noted it in a Heritage Auctions survey. Now for the Ugly.

When I turned my coins over to the Heritage representative for consignment, he noticed that several of my NGC coins were mounted in old NGC fatty holders. He recommended that they be sent to NGC for possible upgrades. The assumption is that with higher grades comes more aggressive bidding. With starry eyes and perhaps visions of dollar signs, I naively followed his suggestion. I didn’t stop to think how much this would cost or, more importantly, who would bear the cost. I only remember the representative telling me the seller premium was 15%.

A few weeks later, I received an invoice from Heritage Auctions for $450.00! I was shell-shocked and embarrassed. I should have known! Somebody always pays! Furthermore, I was led to believe that Heritage would only send the fatty holders for evaluation. I was shocked to discover they sent all the coins for upgrade evaluation.

I could have lived with this had those fatty holder coins been upgraded, but none were. Do not think that old holder coins will automatically upgrade! They won’t! In fact, only two other coins in newer holders were upgraded. One from 65 to 65+ and the other from 66 to 66+. The 66+ received a little more attention at auction, but I found that the upgrade evaluation was NOT worth $450. As I noted before, I made a nice profit from my coins, except it could have been a nice $450 profit higher!

Overall, I am delighted with how things turned out, except for the few exceptions mentioned above. I also learned a lot from my mistakes and the experience of understanding how the whole process, from consignment to bidding, works. Ultimately, I’m the better for the experience, and I will likely use Heritage Auctions again, especially when consigning world coins.