Dads Stuff Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 That is the question. There are 2 auctions coming up in my neighborhood (very rural area) on the 3rd and 4th of July. Coins abound in both sales. Sale #1 on the 3rd lists: 1865-S Twenty dollar Liberty good; 1897-P Five dollar gold; 1886-S Five dollar gold; 1853 2 ½ Dollar liberty gold; 20 Silver dollars, 1904 & previous; 1891- CC Silver dollar; 1891- CC Silver dollar; 1890- CC Silver dollar; 1878- CC Silver dollar; 1875 U.S. trade dollar; 1842 Lg. cent; 1845 Lg. cent; 1854 Lg. cent; 1858 Flying Eagle cent; 1862 Indian cent; 18 Indian cents; 1866 Three cent nickel; 1868 Three cent nickel; 1854-O Arrows-at-date half dime; 1884 Liberty nickel; 1888 Liberty nickel; 1825 Capped bust dime; 1888-S Seated dime; 1890 Seated dime; 1813 Bust half, plugged; 1877 Seated half; 1929-D Liberty half; 1884-C Dollar; 1921 Morgan; 1921 Morgan; 1922 Peace dollar; 1927-P Peace dollar; 1934-S Peace dollar. Sale #2 on the 4th lists: 1878 $20 gold; 1902 $10 gold; 1890 $5 gold; 100 oz. Silver bar ingots; 5-5000 Grains silver Commemorative Presidents; Coin books-some full: Wash. quarters, Lib. halves, Merc. dimes, Ros. dimes, Peace dollar, Morgan dollar, Lib. quarters, Franklin halves, Buffalo nickel, Lincoln cent; 1875 Seated half; 1878 Seated quarter; 1917 Lg. bill; 1900-1907 Indian head set; 3-1/2 oz. Silver bars; Several mint & proof sets; 15+ Morgan & Peace dollars; 17 Jewel Elgin pocket watch gold 1880; 15 Jewel Elgin gold pocket watch 1904; Hamilton pocket watch; Several wrist watches; Silver cigarette case; Diamond dinner ring; Diamond wedding set; Pocket knives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bahabully Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 Depends on why you'd go. If you see a coin listed that your really really after,, then I'd go and get it. If your looking to pick up a "deal" on some random coins, then I'd save your time/money and spend it on ebay searching for overlooked deals. I've probably been to 70-100 live auctions looking for coin deals,, never seen one. I have picked up around 5-10 "deals/steals" on ebay (over the past 8 to 10 years,, they are rare, but more abundant than live auction 'deals/steals') 1 - Auction companies generally use shill bidders. (folks in the gallary who work for the auction company and bid up prices during the auction) 2 - Auction companies generally overstate the condition of raw coins by 1 or 2 grade levels. 3 - Auction companies know 'exactly' how much they can get from these coins on ebay, and wouldn't spend thier time auctioning them live unless they thought they could get more from some sucker in the "live" gallary than on ebay. If you have dry time on your hands, and wish to spend it shopping for coins deals, then I have yet to find a better place to do than on ebay. Look for folks with relatively low to moderate sells (ie- 20 to 800),, they tend to be other collectors like yourself who are parting with duplicates or selling off coins that no longer capture thier fancy. Stay away from powersellers, etc.. with 1000 to 1000000 items sold, they tend to sell items at a premium and generally overstate the grade of thier coins. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDJMSP Posted July 2, 2006 Report Share Posted July 2, 2006 That is the question. There are 2 auctions coming up in my neighborhood (very rural area) on the 3rd and 4th of July. Coins abound in both sales. If you do, you had better be very, very good at recognizing counterfeits, altered coins, atrificially toned coins and harshly cleaned coins. Otherwise - be prepared to throw your money away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalk64 Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 I have found that the competition among family members will drive bidding beyond the coins value as they make every attempt to keep the coins in the family. I enjoy going to the sales and seeing a wide variety of coins but seldom ever buy a coin due to the families involved and the non collectors who are willing to buy at all costs once they have made up their minds to bid. I saw very very low grade Barber quarters in rolls, which I got to examine prior to the sale, go for $170.00 per roll!!! I only wish I had a few rolls of worn out coins to sell at that auction!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henare Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 these auctions feel like those post-dot-com auctions where all the aeron chairs and hardware were sold off to people who were looking for a bargain but didn't actually know the market and ultimately ended up paying more than retail ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28Plain Posted July 4, 2006 Report Share Posted July 4, 2006 I saw very very low grade Barber quarters in rolls, which I got to examine prior to the sale, go for $170.00 per roll!!! I only wish I had a few rolls of worn out coins to sell at that auction!!! Estate auctions have their lists liberally salted with the auctioneer's own crap, sometimes. There are ethical auctioneers, I'm sure, but there are also plenty of slick operators who slip crap into auctions, counting on being able to unload the stuff on people who expect the auction to consist of the collection listed in the auction catalog or list. I've seen Chinese made fake Griswold #0 skillets included in lots which had nothing else like that in them. The ususpecting bidder would bid on a box of worthless kitchen junk thinking that the skillet was genuine because it was mixed in with old kitchenware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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