Surprisingly good results for the Heritage auctions.

[truthteller]

The Heritage coin auctions had oodles of coins for sale. Results are as follows:

 

6517 US coins offered, 5418 sold, or 83% sold.

2184 Foreign coins offered, 2109 sold, or 97% sold.

 

It appears from prices realized, that the reserves were more in line with market conditions and the owners WANTED to sell the coins and not hold them hoping for future gains. A major attitude adjustment from the SF ANA sale. Two reasons possible. Dealers or consignors want to be more in a cash position and/or movement in precious metals forcing opportunities in tangible coin assets. I tend to believe more dealers are discounting quite a bit in order to sell "stuff"(excluding generic US gold) and are willing to cut loose coins at auction. There is plenty of cash available, and several major upcoming collections are coming onto the auction block(Jack Lee's dollar collection, for example). HOWEVER, I noticed more and more coins maxxed out in holders, overgraded or simply ugly coins not deserving of generous grades. This is a MAJOR problem. Many dealers no longer participate in the CCE trading sight unseen, and would rather pay a huge premium for a correctly graded coin. I know of one dealer who consistently believes his sight/sight unseen bids are the market and walks from table to table with the buy sheet offering his "bids" for PQ coins. He rarely buys anything. There is a TON of ugly inventory available, just sitting show after show. I believe toward the end of the year, the ugly coins will be "cut loose" at generous discounts. Frankly, the discounts will have to be a grade or two lower, since ugly coins will not trade in holder at "grey sheet" levels. I believe dealers no longer expect to sell at premiums, so they are more realistic with expectations on what a coin is really worth. Today, a "score" or upgrade may not translate into a substantial profit since there might not be a buyer for that maxxed out coin.

 

 

TRUTH

[gmarguli]

The Heritage coin auctions had oodles of coins for sale. Results are as follows:

 

2184 Foreign coins offered, 2109 sold, or 97% sold.

 

I've got to say the estimates on the foreign were frequently out of line. Several coins I was interested in had estimates that were a fraction of what the coin should have and did end up selling for.

 

Also, on more than one coin the RESERVE was set higher than the high end of the estimate. I'm very disappointed in Heritage that they would have an estimate range that is impossible to achieve since the reserve was higher than the high end estimate. That's just wrong.