Bowers and Merena Sept Rarities sale

[Hoot]

Holy smokes! I truly have never seen such an amazing array of buffalo nickels in a single auction! I'm sure that each of you will find your speciality there, represented by some amazing coins. Look and drool!!!

 

Sept. Rarities Sale

 

Hoot

[michael]

hi there hoot! i must admit bowers and goldberg auctions come up with some very sweet coins!!!

[jtryka]

I'm sure they are nice, but I refuse to buy any coins from them based on principle. I will not buy coins from any dealer/auction house owned by the same parent company as the grading service whose coins they are hawking.

[BOILER78]

I only bid on coins at auctions that I can not find on the bourse floor. Sure there are auction companies that I would rather not deal with (Bowers is not one of them) but if a beautiful R7 pattern or early proof type coin comes up at auction, I'm in there bidding. Some times you only get one shot.

[EVillageProwler]

Jeff,

 

I think the good folks at B&M would be deeply hurt to find out that you've lumped them in with the old DH/CU camp.

 

The buzz is that the diehards at B&M Galleries have a totally different approach to coin dealing than the DHRC and PCGS folks, and that the two camps don't really get along.

 

DHRC, you will notice, pumps PCGS coins and the CU Registry exclusively. B&M will sell any nice coin, and will even occasionally disparage the registry game.

 

I have never had any interaction with any representative of DHRC, and only minimal contact with PCGS. As for B&M, I've had plenty of excellent personal and professional contact.

 

You will do what you are comfortable doing, but I think you'd be incorrect if you lumped B&M in with the rest of the CU family of companies...

 

EVP

 

[BOILER78]

I agree whole heartedly! Nothing but good experiences with the fine people at Bowers. Note: I am primarily an auction customer. I find their retail prices very high!

[keithdagen]

My only beef with Bowers is that they don't maintain a real-time inventory. I e-mailed for a scan of a piece early last week. It took them 2 days to respond, and they told me the piece had been sold. Today, it is still listed on their site as available.

 

Scan every coin and update the inventory.

[jtryka]

You guys may be right about them, but as soon as I see "A Collectors Universe Company" on the top of their web page, that is a turn off. If you want a more important reason I don't deal with them it's the lack of selection of double eagles, at least on recent auctions I've seen.

 

PS-I never worry about hurting the feelings of companies.

[bigd5]

I made a passing glance at those offerings Hoot, and I have a general rule that if I can't afford the coins, I stop looking!!!!!! They are all toooooo nice. I'm not a ms/66-67 kind of guy. I like the suspense of finding a pq ms/63, that has the flash of a gem. Keeps me on my toes. Damn nice coins though. Maybe I'll bid.............what to do, what to do............

[Oldtrader3]

I am no fan of CU or PCGS Management but I have been buying coins from B&M Auctions for 25 years, maybe more. My father was a customer for many years before me. My feeling is, that during the period that I have been dealing with B&M, they have maintained (or improved) the quality of auction offerings and still treat the customer with respect.

 

I had a problem last year with a B&M Auction that was managed by CU. I emailed Dave Bowers and explained my problem. He was most sypathetic and helpful in resolving the problem. He did not have to help me and he could have passed me off to a minion, but he didn't.

 

This year, I have bought many lots in B&M auctions and have been disappointed only twice. The disappointments were with lots that had been slabbed by other companies than NGC/PCGS. All of the raw coins that I have bought in B&M auctions graded at or above their estimated grade. I certainly can not complain about that! As long as B&M maintains their present level of quality, I will remain a customer.

 

However, I do agree that their website coin maintenance leaves something to be desired. I also have called and missed getting coins on several occasions.

[Guest]

I agree completely with the professionalism and personal attention given by Bowers and Morena. Am I to understand that there prices are higher than auction plus 15%? I recently successfully bid coins in the $600, $1200, and $1500 range and the additional 15% does add up for fixes incomers like me. What opinion if any do you all have of Heritage rare coins in Dallas? And finally would you folks rate coin grading services in descending order as NGC, PCGS abd ANACS e.g.?

You can no doubt tell I am in to gold, I am neither a numismatic collector but grab what I like for personal attraction and rainy day investing

[keithdagen]

Welcome Patosh,

 

Bowers and Heritage are both good auction houses. Sometimes, Heritage's weekly auctions and inventory tend to be low end, but you can still find some decent coins if you are picky and patient. The major auctions in conjunction with the national and regional shows have the best material for sure.

[jtryka]

I have dealt with Heritage a lot, and they are a swell outfit from my experience. Always courteous and top-notch service, and their prices are usually fair. The best part about their auctions and inventory are the images, which you can click on to enlarge and really see what you are bidding on a lot better. I also am into gold, and although their inventory is not peppered with extreme rarities, they do get an awful lot of very pretty gold through there. Anyhow, welcome to the boards!

 

PS-On the grading issue, I try to be realistic, and I firmly believe that all of the 4 major services have their pluses and minuses. I have really only dealt with PCGS and ICG as far as submitting raw coins, and PCGS has far worse customer service in my opinion than ICG. As far as grading, it depends on the series. For gold in general, I find PCGS to be a little erratic in their grading, but generally on par with NGC and ICG (ICG has recently improved their grading from what I can see, so on older ICG slabs you should be more careful, but the later slabs are far more conservatively graded). Of all, I feel ANACS is the most conservative on gold, and tend to be a point or so stricter than PCGS/NGC/ICG on most gold. Keep in mind though that my strength lies in Lib. Eagles and double eagles, Indian Eagles and Saints. As for everything else, I am not as familiar.

[EVillageProwler]

Patosh,

 

Am I to understand that there prices are higher than auction plus 15%? I recently successfully bid coins in the $600, $1200, and $1500 range and the additional 15% does add up for fixes incomers like me.

 

I don't think I understand your question about Bowers and Merena's prices. Auction prices are determined by the bidding public, and they factor in the 15% buyer's fee into the total cost of each lot.

 

What opinion if any do you all have of Heritage rare coins in Dallas?

 

They're pretty good, I suppose. I know them best through their auctions, and they're high-tech, professional, and ethical.

 

And finally would you folks rate coin grading services

 

Difficult question to answer with telling us your criteria. Like others have said, all services have their pros and cons. And, wrt most of the possible criteria, the ranking of the services would change depending on the time period. Currently, public opinion seems to give high marks to PCGS in terms of strictness of grading and low marks in terms of customer service. But then again, public opinion told the TV producers to keep Baywatch on the air for so long...

 

I currently prefer NGC. I won't tell you why because my reasons may not be right for you. (Besides, I need to go do something else!)

 

You can no doubt tell I am in to gold, I am neither a numismatic collector but grab what I like for personal attraction and rainy day investing

 

It is not a good idea to think of coins as a long-term investment vehicle unless you are darn sure you know what you're doing. No offense intended, but you seem like you're just getting going with coins. If you think you can pick out good investments or good buys so quickly, then either you're incredibly gifted or you've completely misjudged this industry.

 

Regards,

 

EVP

 

[chrisfuccione]

TTT

[paigow_johnny]

Chris...what in heaven's name is TTT

[EVillageProwler]

TTT = To The Top

 

EVP

 

[shirohniichan]

Has anyone else had trouble getting responses to emails about auction lots? I submitted two questions last Thursday and still haven't received clarification. Do I have to call B&M?