Another real life "dealer views auction, bids and reports back here" post..

[MarkFeld]

Last week I flew to Dallas and viewed (approximately 4000-4500 lots from) the Heritage ANA sale. Please note, that when I say "viewed", in many cases, I quickly eye-balled the coins looking for something that made them stand out. And if nothing caught my eye, I quickly placed them back in the box. I spent about 8 hours viewing and making notes over parts of two days. And, while that's a long time for me, some other dealers spend WAY more time than that.

 

From the above group of coins, I ended up placing 166 bids, roughly 15 of which were on behalf of a client. Some of the bids for my client will be raised in the next few days and I will be placing bids for other clients later, as well. Also, perhaps a half dozen of the bids I placed for myself were to mark lots with low initial bids, for me to review and decide whether or not to pursue them.

 

As of this moment, with reserves set to be posted later today, my current bids total $630,389. Of that amount, $244,646 are "Losing Bids", $385,743 are my "Winning Max Bids" and $236,598" are "winning bids". And, if I added correctly, I am high bid on 116 of the items I bid on.

 

I will report back later with revised numbers after reserves are posted, so that anyone who is interested - I hope that's at least 1 or 2 of you - can see how many of my winning bids are eliminated that way. I will also report back after the sale, with final numbers and at that time, will be happy to answer any questions about particular coins I bid on and either won or lost.

[IGWT]

This is interesting.

[cpm9ball]

Very interesting, Mark. I'm looking forward to learning the results, what coins you hoped to win and what coins you actually won.

 

Chris

[Dwaine]

I agree, should be very interesting.

[DC Dawg]

Oh... so it was you who outbid me?!!!

 

Good luck Mark (I'm sure we're not bidding on the same items anyway )

 

Scott

[MarkFeld]

Update #1:

 

Now that reserves have been posted, the numbers are as follows:

 

"Losing Bids" are now $390,099 ($244,646 previously), "Winning Max Bids" are now $240,290 ($385,743 previously) and "Winning Bids" are now $175,880($236,598 previously).

 

I am now the high bidder on 98 lots, vs. 116 previously.

 

As one amusing example of my bid vs. a reserve which was just posted:

 

Lot 1350 Buffalo Nickels

1923-S 5C MS64 PCGS

Bid $1600 ($1,840.00) Reserve: $6,500.00* ($7,475.00)

 

 

[cpm9ball]

As one amusing example of my bid vs. a reserve which was just posted:

 

Lot 1350 Buffalo Nickels

1923-S 5C MS64 PCGS

Bid $1600 ($1,840.00) Reserve: $6,500.00* ($7,475.00)

 

 

Mark, I think you're in the wrong location. You must be on eBay.

 

Chris

[stinkycheese1]

Mark, keep us updated and I'd be happy to hear if you win any gold coins!

 

[WinstonWare]

This is interesting.

 

Agree. I look forward to the updates (thumbs u

[BankNote1]

As one amusing example of my bid vs. a reserve which was just posted:

 

Lot 1350 Buffalo Nickels

1923-S 5C MS64 PCGS

Bid $1600 ($1,840.00) Reserve: $6,500.00* ($7,475.00)

 

Mark do you have a photo of the coin? It must be a monster!

[EZ_E]

Thanks for the insider's view, Mark. Very interesting indeed!

[JKK]

*spoon*. It sure takes a lot of capital to make money doing that.

[leeg]

Thanks Mark for taking the time to put this together and updating us along the way. I'll be keeping an eye on how things progress.

 

(thumbs u

[MikeInFL]

Mark, How many do you think you'll win?

[MarkFeld]

Mark, How many do you think you'll win?

Mike, that is SO unpredictable. Put please put me down for an over-under of 20 coins.

[IGWT]

Mark -- Do you feel no disadvantage in leaving bids w/ the auction house (or on the internet) as opposed to bidding from the floor? Thanks.

[MarkFeld]

Mark -- Do you feel no disadvantage in leaving bids w/ the auction house (or on the internet) as opposed to bidding from the floor? Thanks.

Lou, that can work both ways. Sometimes, if you wait to bid live, another bidder might beat you to your maximum bid. On the other hand, if you choose to bid on-line, you don't have an opportunity to cut the increment as you might (it's at the auctioneer's discretion) if you are at the auction. And, if you top another bid before the sale, it might cause that bidder to raise his bid. On the other hand, the longer you wait to bid, the more time there is for something to go wrong.

 

Here is one other thing to consider- Bidding on line in advance of the sale is also one way to reduce your chances of catching "auction fever", an ailment that I have seen affect LOTS of bidders.

[michael]

mark

 

have you ever won something way below your max. bid??

 

 

[MarkFeld]

mark

 

have you ever won something way below your max. bid??

 

Many times.

[Dcoin]

Is auction strategy the single most important tool behind numismatic savvy, to becoming a successful coin dealer?

[MarkFeld]

Is auction strategy the single most important tool behind numismatic savvy, to becoming a successful coin dealer?

Not in my view, it isn't. I know a number of sharp, successful dealers who don't participate in auctions, or if so, rarely. Also, there are many facets of "numismatic savvy" which don't have anything to do with "auction strategy".

[just-john]

Sounds like an interesting day or days do you ever do field trips to the auctions?Would be interesting just following you around at the auction and a great way to learning about the hobby.Shopping with somebody else money would be fun but a little terrifying ever think of starting a side business Mark Feld coin auction field trips ?

[MarkFeld]

With just two inconsequential bids remaining, here is a brief summary.....

 

I bid a total of approximately $670,000 on 121 lots on behalf of myself and 3 clients. Winning bids totaled a sad $62,000 for 33 coins. The $62,000 paid for the lots that were won was roughly 10% less than the maximum bid total for those lots.

 

And, while 33 lots won out of 121 bid on isn't bad, many of the rarer, more exciting coins went for considerably over the amounts I/we bid. Here are just a few examples:

 

1873 H10C PCGS MS67: Bid $3450; price realized $9200

1876 50C NGC PR66: Bid $5175; price realize $13,800

1837 1C PCGS MS66RB: Bid $4600; price realized $9775

1914 5C PCGS PR67: Bid $6037; price realized $17,250.00

 

I was the under-bidder on a fair number of items, but of course have no way of knowing how much higher the winning bidders would have gone. It is my impression, that for the type of coins I like to acquire, this auction was as strong as or stronger than any I can remember in recent times. Fortunately, I was also able to locate some nice material at the show, and most of it at very reasonable prices.

[jesbroken]

Thank you, Mark. Both an informative and enjoyable presentation of your activities. I appreciate the effort.

Jim

[Oldtrader3]

Mark, I have noticed that seated coinage prices have been outrageous recently for nice material. I have been trying to find the low mintage issues of 1879 seated business strikes with no luck, or I can not afford them.

[leeg]

Appreciate the update. Didn't win any lot's myself. Not playing the "moon money" game.

[MikeInFL]

Thanks for the update, Mark. 33/121 ain't bad....

 

Wonder what that '37 LC in 66 RB looked like.....

[MarkFeld]

Thanks for the update, Mark. 33/121 ain't bad....

 

Wonder what that '37 LC in 66 RB looked like.....

Mike, it as a very nice looking coin, but at that price, so what!

[rons]

Mark, What would you have done if you had won all of your bids? 600 G's is alot of money. Do you use a formula for what you can afford and bid twice that or do you just fly on the seat of your pants and HOPE you don't win them all? Thank you for all of the insights and thought processes you have shared in this endeavor.

[MarkFeld]

Mark, What would you have done if you had won all of your bids? 600 G's is alot of money. Do you use a formula for what you can afford and bid twice that or do you just fly on the seat of your pants and HOPE you don't win them all? Thank you for all of the insights and thought processes you have shared in this endeavor.

I knew, from prior experiences over a period of many years, that I wouldn't win anywhere close to all of the lots I bid on. However, had I and my clients somehow won them all, we would have been good for the funds. And thanks for your nice comment.