Floor bidders have the advantage at Sedwick's Treasure Auction 14

I had an unfortunate experience on Wednesday night during Daniel Frank Sedwick's live auction of world coins. My maximum absentee bid was the starting price for a scarce 8 reales overdate, and I watched it go live through my internet connection from home (I had turned off the live audio/video feed). Although I was prepared to counter-bid, no additional bids came in and the item closed at my high bid. Great! Another slot filled in my Charles III pillar dollar set. I saw the next item come up, and since it was not of interest to me, I went back to doing something else on my computer.

About 15 minutes later, I checked my list of items won and was shocked to see that the coin, that I saw close at my high bid, was sold to another bidder at the next higher increment. I fired off an indignant comment via the "ask auctioneer a question" form and was surprised to get a fairly prompt response. In the ensuing email exchange I received an apology for the confusion and the explanation. Apparently, the auctioneer missed a bid from the floor and so the item reopened again, later in the order, for bidding. I don't know what was announced on the live feed but I can't imagine that anyone but the floor bidder was prepared for a rebid -- I certainly wasn't.

According to the posted terms, bids can be reopened at the discretion of the auction house, so all I can do is complain. Oh well, lesson learned. From now on, I will remember to keep an eye on the next several bids, just in case any I think I have won come up for rebid.

There was a bright side to my night, however. I won a rare 1733 Mo F 8 reales, NGC XF details, at the starting bid of $1000. In problem-free condition, they list at $9K -- well outside my collecting budget. For a probable, sea-salvage coin, it has little to no visible corrosion. The main drawback is dark staining from encrustation that otherwise protected the surfaces.

~jack

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