You guys hit any of the recent auctions?

[RobertB]

Did anyone take part in any of the recent auctions: Superior, Goldberg, Signature Sale, recently? I found them thru ebay's live auctions. Does anyone know if the are held regularly like weekly or monthly, or is this a seasonal thing? I've never done live coin auctions so this is new to me. I did pick up a ngc ms65 Boone and ngc MS65 Rhode Island commems for $140 each (plus 20% sellers fees). Is that good for one of these things? The prices seemed pretty good to me.

[MAULEMALL]

What were the years.

[RobertB]

1936D rhode island

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=28292&item=2189879544

 

1935D boone

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=28292&item=2189879375

[TomB]

The RI looks nice, however, the Boone looks like they put a lot of light on it to get the image so I don't know if it will look quite so white when you get it. Both coins bid at about $150 on the Greysheet so, if the 20% buyer's premium is tacked onto your price, then you paid a little over Greysheet for each.

[RobertB]

Greysheet is about what a dealer would pay for the coin right? I'm not so familiar with that publication, heard of it, never read one. If so, a couple bucks over what a dealer would pay is ok with me, beats retail anyway.

[TomB]

In the case of fairly abundant classic commems, in reasonably attainable grades, the Greysheet is really a pretty good indicator of most dealers' price levels. These bid/ask levels are for coins that are within the grade yet are not monsters in terms of toning or incredible, blast white bloom. I would think that if you were at a show (a monthly show, regional show or major show) that you could buy most of these kinds of coins for close to Greysheet.

 

So, I don't see anything wrong with the price you paid for them, especially if you are happy with them when they get to you.

[RobertB]

Thanks for the info. Tom. I appreciate it. Although I've been collecting for 3 years or so, and seriously, there are things I'm always running into that are new to me. I guess that's numismatics though, always something new to learn and someting or some way to improve.

 

I am hoping the Boone has the white tint it appears to in the pictures. We'll see though, you may be on to something when you mention they may have added significant light.

 

Do you know how often they hold these type of live auctions, the bigger firms that is? That is completely new to me. Do you have any recommendations or preferred firms, mostly for commem.s, but in general is ok too?

[TomB]

These larger auctions are often held in conjunction with the larger, national coin shows around the country. This coming week is a major show in Long Beach, CA and so there are several auctions going off one after the other.

 

I have never liked doing business with Superior but I have bought many attractive coins at auction from Goldbergs and Heritage. It seems that Heritage has the most auctions that are very large and they will have a Signature Sale this coming week. I go to many of the Heritage auctions in person and the coins are heavily inspected by people on site. The truly special coins rarely go to internet bidders who do not have representation at the auction, they almost universally go to floor bidders who are intimately aware of the coin's attributes by the time the lot comes up.

 

I do not do well as an internet bidder as I always hold back from a true maximum since images cannot possibly convey everything about a coin. Attending the auctions, however, I do much better. They are a lot of fun.

 

For generic classic commems you may do very well with the Heritage Bullet Sales as these are internet only sales, although they do allow hands on inspection at major shows. These auctions have decent material but do not get as heavily bid upon.

 

In general, I like to be able to personally inspect nearly every coin I buy, so, I would urge you to go to shows to look at coins and you are likely to find the same quality with some looking and can avoid the buyer's premium.

[MAULEMALL]

In the case of fairly abundant classic commems, in reasonably attainable grades, the Greysheet is really a pretty good indicator of most dealers' price levels. These bid/ask levels are for coins that are within the grade yet are not monsters in terms of toning or incredible, blast white bloom. I would think that if you were at a show (a monthly show, regional show or major show) that you could buy most of these kinds of coins for close to Greysheet.

 

So, I don't see anything wrong with the price you paid for them, especially if you are happy with them when they get to you.

 

I think you did alright.The Boone looks very nice for the grade.