Bucephalus Numismatic

[Mucius Scaevola]

Are there people here that ever had to do something with Bucephalus? I had a biddr account for bidding at their auctions and when I asked them why they put wrong provenances in their current auction (with examples as I was interested in an aureus), they did not answer me but just lowered my credit from 5000eur to 500. When I asked them if that was their answer to my complaint they didn't reply. Now I saw that I can't bid anymore.

I'm not sure, but I don't think that's the best way to treat your customers.

So..what's your experience with them?

[shanxi]

I have participated in three auctions. Without problems.

Edited September 13, 2022 by shanxi

[Richard Beale]

Could you please share an example (or examples) of false provenances?

[Mucius Scaevola]

https://www.biddr.com/auctions/bucephalusnumismatic/browse?a=2883&l=3239132

 

there f.ex. They changed it, yesterday they pointed to another Roma auction (Pretty sure it was the 78 sale written before). So I went to see for how much it sold in the 2 auctions mentionned and I saw that at CNG it was another coin and the Roma provencance wasn't existing.

i don't like the fact that several auction houses just mark other auctions. If buyers don't do some research, they will think that this is the coin that was sold by other auction houses. But the fact that the Roma provenance that was in the description was a completely other coin pretty much pissed me off. So I told them via biddr. Their only response was setting my limit down. But at least they corrected the description, it seems.

[Ryro]

They've always been great to me. Fast shipping, authentic coins. 

What an odd interaction.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Ryro

[Mucius Scaevola]

I have no doubts in their coins or shipping delays..  but it was the first time I reached to a dealer via biddr and this was the answer. Normally they just correct the text, without ignoring me and setting my limit to the lowest, so I'm not able to bid on the coins I want.

[Mucius Scaevola]

https://www.romanumismatics.com/233-lot-987-anonymous-a-quartuncia?auction_id=133&view=lot_detail

 

It was E-Sale 78 before because this was the coin I found yesterday when I searched for the provenance.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Mucius Scaevola

[John Conduitt]

20 minutes ago, Mucius Scaevola said:

https://www.romanumismatics.com/233-lot-987-anonymous-a-quartuncia?auction_id=133&view=lot_detail

It was E-Sale 78 before because this was the coin I found yesterday when I searched for the provenance.

You are correct, it was 78 not 76. Obviously a typo.

If you want to know what something was originally listed as, look on Numisbids, as this seems to take an early snapshot and it doesn't refresh when the auction site is updated https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=6033&lot=566. Generally, that's a pain, but sometimes it helps.

Really strange that they didn't just say, yes, it's a typo, thanks for pointing it out (to a customer willing to spend EUR4000+).

Edited September 13, 2022 by John Conduitt

[Mucius Scaevola]

A typo can happen - no problem. But like you say and others mostly do - say Thank you or whatever and just correct it. This really sucked. 

And I don't like seeing a text with provenances where it seems that THIS was the coin they now sell. At least write "similar coins like this, sold at (...)" 

I mean we're not talking about a rubbed-off Trajan sestertius. We're talking about an expensive coin. 

[Hesiod]

I think for the Aureus in question, besides the roma link being a typo, he's referring to those coins (i.e. saying c.f.) and not saying that this is provenanced to those sales.

I'm going off the numisbids listing, assuming that the text there is the original.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Hesiod

[Dwarf]

Correct:

A rather quick search found no "auction pedigree"
It is just some citation, which can easily be misunderstood for a pedigree.
A bad behavior

 

[John Conduitt]

8 minutes ago, Dwarf said:

Correct:

A rather quick search found no "auction pedigree"
It is just some citation, which can easily be misunderstood for a pedigree.
A bad behavior

Yes I don't know that I've often seen the references cite other auctions, unless it explicitly talks about why that particular example is relevant. Never just for a general reference. It's often hard enough to disentangle references and provenance on listings, without that kind of thing.

[Phil Davis]

5 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

Yes I don't know that I've often seen the references cite other auctions, unless it explicitly talks about why that particular example is relevant. Never just for a general reference. It's often hard enough to disentangle references and provenance on listings, without that kind of thing.

I've seen it done (and done it myself) in the case of another example of a coin otherwise unpublished. Obviously those situations are rare, but they do happen. In those cases though, I wouldn't simply list the previous sale in lieu of a reference; I would say something like "Apparently unpublished in the standard references; see Auction XYZ, lot ZYX for another example." The way it was done here absolutely does look like a provenance; no one will read it as a reference unless, I suppose, they're familiar with the way this auction house does things.

[Mucius Scaevola]

Like dwarf and Phil pointed out, this just looks like a provenance not a reference.  They're not the only ones but their answer is what sucks at the end. 

[Alegandron]

3 hours ago, Mucius Scaevola said:

Are there people here that ever had to do something with Bucephalus?

I have had two dogs in the past that were named Bucephalus.  My Avatar was named Blue, yeah, kinda a legacy to Bucephalus...

But, no, have not dealt with Bucephalus Auction.

[Mucius Scaevola]

After some discussion, they raised my limit to 10k. They said it was due to another thing that they lowered my limit and it was a bizarre coincidence.

I don't believe it, but at least I could now bid on the wanted coin.