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NGC Ancients Coin Data Added to Heritage Auctions Site

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Collectors of ancient coins now have more information at their fingertips with Heritage Auctions' new feature, which serves up comparable auction results and census statistics on coins auctioned through HA.com. The auctioneer's World & Ancient Coins portal provides more information available in one convenient search.

Below nearly every ancient coin graded by NGC in a Heritage Auction appears an Auction Comparable Results Grid and a Population Guide. While this information is second nature to many U.S. coin collectors and has been utilized for decades in that segment of the market, Heritage Auctions is the first numismatic firm in the world to present the graded population data and auction comparable results for ancient coins in any sort of systematic and relevant way.

The Auction Comparable Results grid takes the results of similar coins from past auctions and presents the information in a clear and concise table. While auction lots still will contain an estimated price determined by Heritage experts, the results for similar coins at auction are infinitely more relevant. Potential bidders now easily can assess the raw data and make their own judgements as to what a particular coin is worth.

heritage-ngc-ancients-pop-report.jpg
Population information for NGC Ancients coins has been integrated into the Heritage Auctions site.
Click image to enlarge.

 

Population information from NGC now appears below the Auction Comparables Results grid, as well in an easy-to-use dashboard. Highlighting the grade of the specific coin up for auction, potential bidders can see how many examples have been graded at that same level, as well as how many exist at other grades above and below it.

"This feature educates buyers about the true market for specific ancient coins," Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President for World & Ancient Coins Cris Bierrenbach said. "The more information is available, the more comfortable and more confident people are when buying anything, regardless of the price.

"The additional information this provides will help assure buyers that the value of what is bought reflects the coin's rarity and is in line with past results. Customers who feel comfortable that they got a fair deal are more likely to be repeat customers, and more likely to get real enjoyment out of whatever it is that they purchase."

Similar information has been available for years for Heritage clients of U.S. Coins and, and as of last year, world coins. It has been harder to establish such metrics for ancient coins, because there are so many varieties. But the standardization of the market, established in part by the information available in this tool on HA.com, could increase the number of clients willing to buy ancient coins.

"The hope is that Heritage's commitment to transparency and advances in technology, as evidenced by these latest features, will lower the barrier for entry into the exciting collectible field of ancient coins," Bierrenbach said. "The best customers are informed, educated customers, those who understand the value of something before they buy. This feature will allow more and more of our clients to make educated, informed decisions, thereby increasing confidence and satisfaction from each transaction."

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1 hour ago, LINCOLNMAN said:

Does Heritage already do World?

I have never seen population data for any non-US coin I have pulled up on Heritage.

The TPG data isn't very meaningful for world coinage, except for a low proportion of coins or countries.  Since most non-US collectors don't prefer their coins in plastic, most of the better and scarcer coins aren't in an NGC or PCGS holder anyway.

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Here are a few examples from existing Heritage listings.  Julius Caesar Denarius.  

https://coins.ha.com/itm/roman-republic/ancient-coins-roman/ancients-julius-caesar-as-dictator-49-44-bc-ar-denarius-18mm-387-gm-10h-ngc-au-5-5-4-5/a/3065-30026.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

One of my all-time favorite coins, First Jewish Revolt Shekel.  Interestingly, the population data in this link doesn't provide a breakdown between the different years.  This one is year three and there is another listing for year two with the same data.  I could not find the NGC Ancients Census but if it is the same, seems to me there should be a breakout by year.

https://coins.ha.com/itm/judaea/ancient-coins/judaea-jewish-war-ad-66-70-ar-shekel/p/3066-75002.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

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On 6/27/2018 at 11:20 AM, LINCOLNMAN said:

Does Heritage already do World?

Yes, I started seeing previous auction results and population reports for world coins just recently.  You must be logged into Heritage to see the reports.

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17 hours ago, jgenn said:

Yes, I started seeing previous auction results and population reports for world coins just recently.  You must be logged into Heritage to see the reports.

Yes, I checked and you are correct.  It is still irrelevant for the vast majority of world coinage.

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On 6/29/2018 at 7:02 PM, World Colonial said:

Yes, I checked and you are correct.  It is still irrelevant for the vast majority of world coinage.

I agree that the population reports are not very representative of coin existence for non-U.S. issues.  However, the auction results are quite useful in that they represent the prices that (predominately) U.S. buyers are paying for these world coins.

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10 hours ago, jgenn said:

I agree that the population reports are not very representative of coin existence for non-U.S. issues.  However, the auction results are quite useful in that they represent the prices that (predominately) U.S. buyers are paying for these world coins.

Yes, this is true but it was also true before Heritage started including the population data. 

I use the Heritage data and, to a lesser extent, the population data regularly.  When I use the population data it is to check to see if the counts have changed for the coins I primarily collect now.  It seldom does,

Mostly though I am just "researching" or checking out a particular coin or series.  I do this regularly (though now less than before) for any number of coins, both US and non-US.  I also check PCGS Coin Facts.

In the above prior post with the two links I included, the population data for those two ancient coins is actually useful.  I don't collect ancients and never though either of the two are scarce, but the counts are material enough where it potentially is at least somewhat representative.

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Is there an Ancient coin Census on the NGC website? It appears that data must be available somewhere, since Heritage is pulling it, but I can't find any census data on the NGC website. 

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