Benefactor DonnaML Posted January 12, 2023 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted January 12, 2023 (edited) While thinking about tomorrow's NYINC session and trying to map out which tables I want to visit, it occurred to me that in the previous several years 98% of my purchases were probably made at retail (including purchases made at HJB's Buy or Bid Sales) -- whether at the NYINC shows, VCoins, MA-Shops, or other Internet dealers. But in 2022 it was a very different story. I found that I was scrolling through 500-1,000 coins available at retail for every one that jumped out at me as something I had to have -- my usual criterion for deciding to buy something. So I turned more and more to auctions, where the choices seemed to interest me much more frequently. And, in the end, I think that the majority of my purchases in 2022 were made at auction rather than at retail. Here are the 5 auction houses from which I made the most purchases in 2022. Coincidentally, all five of them will have tables at NYINC, so I should probably stop by and say hello even if they don't have anything for sale in my price range. (I'm looking at you, Leu!) For all the money I've spent with these places, they should give me something for free! Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb): 19 coins & medals purchased (6 ancient coins, 13 world coins and medals) Roma Numismatics: 12 (all ancient) CNG: 11 (8 ancient, 3 world) (compared to 1 retail purchase and 0 auction purchases made in 2021) Leu Numismatik: 9 (7 ancient, 2 world) Nomos AG 6 (all ancient) (compared to 2 ancients purchased at auction from Nomos in 2021, representing almost my only auction purchases in 2021 other than from Frank Robinson and the JAZ Auctions held at Coin Talk). Given that 2022 was really my first year purchasing extensively at auctions, I'd be very curious to know which auction houses others purchased the most coins from this past year, whether ancient or otherwise. Hopefully, it will give me some more ideas as to which auctions I should look through in the future. I can't look at all of them! Edited January 12, 2023 by DonnaML 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfp7375 Posted January 12, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 12, 2023 Good idea for a thread @DonnaML... curious to see where people buy the most I didn't buy nearly as many coins as you did last year sadly! Hoping to get more in 2023. In fact the only auction house I bought from more than once from was Artemide Aste (2 coins). They have great republican stuff often, good pics, good service. Other auctions I bought from: Kolner Munzkabinett Kunker Patrick Guillard Olso Myntgalleri I had good experiences with all of them! Shipping to the US from Oslo was brutally expensive (about $45 or $50...) but I knew that going in and it was worth it because it was a much more expensive coin than I usually buy (a Quadrigatus), so the cost was proportionally less significant, and I got a good enough deal that it was worth it) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapphnwn Posted January 12, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 12, 2023 I guess out of the 26 ancient coins I purchased 10 came from CNG. 7 were the result of the New York International. Other Houses that I purchased coins from during the show were Pars (3 coins) The New York Sale (2 coins) Agora Numismatik (1 coin) Herakles (2 coins +I Christmas gift) Warden (1 coin) Harmers of London (1 Coin) Dr Martina Diererle ( ! coin) All of these were featured last month in my Best of the Year. This is just one of many memorable coins that I found t that show. Thasos Ar Stater 412-404 BC Obv Satyr in running kneeling stance carrying off nymph right Rv Quadripartite incuse square. HGC 334 9.61 grms 23mm Photo by W. Hansen I always liked this later somewhat more classical style of the later coins of this type. In fact I could class this type as one of my "grail" coins. I can say this with some irony because I all but missed the coin. I along with @Romancollector were among the first to sit at CNG's table and needless to say the place was a very claustrophobic. The tables were surrounded at least two to three people deep. This was somewhat disconcerting especially as for almost two years I had to maintain my distance especially with strangers. I was obsessing on another coin and it was only a few hours later did I see this coin and snapped it up. 7 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prieure de Sion Posted January 12, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 12, 2023 #1: Roma, London (43) #2: Leu, Winterthur (29) #3 Künker, Osnabrück (18) #4: Naumann, Vienna (19) Roma is always a priority for me from personal experience, even if the British pound is expensive and German customs duties are added. I hope the Roma team will continue to provide the same level of service in 2023 as they have in recent years. For me, Roma means: bid, pay and 48 hours later I already have the coins in my hand. In addition, Roma also responds to my emails and always follows my shipping instructions. Leu is a bit "slow" when it comes to delivery. I also send emails for shipping instructions, but I never get a reply as to whether Leu has received them. But still - the instructions are followed by Leu! But the "feeling" after the purchase is not so great - Leu also has a long shipping time on average. But - the rest is of course absolutely serious. The quality of the coins is always as described - or better. And you know you can buy coins there with a clear conscience. For me, Künker is also above reproach. Great coins, great quality, often great pedigrees. The photos are currently bad - but the coins are great. And Künker offers an excellent service. I once bought a presumed forgery at auction - not secured - and the coin was taken back immediately without discussion. I always have a contact person. If I have questions, they answer them in detail. A great auction house - I wish there were more Künker auctions. And Naumann is my source for middle and sometimes upper class. I like the fact that Naumann holds its auctions at BIDDR in an uncomplicated way and that the whole process with invoice and payment can be handled there. Naumann has similar delivery times to Roma - I usually have my coins 2-3 days after paying Naumann. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Conduitt Posted January 12, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 12, 2023 My spreadsheet was born for this question 😁. My top 5 are: Noonans (British ancient, medieval). CNG (ancient, British medieval). Coins.ee (Golden Horde). Spink (ancient, British medieval). AH Baldwin (British medieval). In fact, eBay would come third if counted as one auction house, although only on volume. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordoba Posted January 12, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 12, 2023 (edited) 1. Roma Numismatics 17 (They had a lot of nice bactrian coins) 2. Aureo & Calico 8 (Coins from al-Andalus) 3. Savoca 6 (random cheap coins) 4. Stephen Album 4 5. Leu 3 I really like Roma and Leu, since they usually have coins I'm looking for. Roma has top notch shipping, though can't say the same for Leu since they waited a month to ship. The coins I got from leus december auction also came sticky, so I had to dip in acetone. surprisingly though leu has had the best deals for me. Edited January 12, 2023 by Cordoba 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limes Posted January 12, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 12, 2023 (edited) 8 hours ago, DonnaML said: Given that 2022 was really my first year purchasing extensively at auctions, I'd be very curious to know which auction houses others purchased the most coins from this past year, whether ancient or otherwise. Hopefully, it will give me some more ideas as to which auctions I should look through in the future. I can't look at all of them! Well, I don't want to add competition... 😉 But I too use a mix of retail purchases and auction purchases (ratio: 1/3). Downside of retail purchases is that it takes some time to find something interesting between the huge amount of, for me, not interesting coins. And retail prices tend to be quite high, often ridiculously high! Downside of auction purchases of course the fees. Its often a case of comparison between retails prices and comparable coins in auction and adding fees. In 2022 I used mix of various mainly EU based auction houses for my (mere) 12 purchases, such as Rauch, Heritage Europe, Wag Online, Naville. I made 1 purchase at CNG. Retail are my regular shops, but also a new shop for me, Münzhandlung André Cichos. 8 hours ago, DonnaML said: For all the money I've spent with these places, they should give me something for free! Well, I do try to negotiate a discount from retailers where I shop more often, saying I'm a regular and so on. Sometimes it works. You could try that 🙂 Edited January 12, 2023 by Limes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor kirispupis Posted January 12, 2023 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted January 12, 2023 Last year, I purchased roughly half of my coins at auction. The following were my auction purchases: Roma (57 coins) Savoca (24 coins) CGB (11 coins) Nomos (6 coins) Bucephalus (2 coins) Leu (1 coin) Technically, Leu should be two coins, but the one I purchased at their auction at the beginning of December hasn't arrived yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_collector Posted January 12, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 12, 2023 My top 5 for 2022 are: ROMA, CNG, Savoca, Nomos and Naumann. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor DonnaML Posted January 12, 2023 · Benefactor Author Benefactor Share Posted January 12, 2023 Roma is certainly very popular here! @Richard Beale should be pleased. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deinomenid Posted January 12, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 12, 2023 I’m not exactly going to shake this thread up by saying Roma is top for me (and it would be more dominant if they did not have a strange - to me - system where my credit limit gets quickly eaten up by failed bids rather than only adding up the successful ones), CNG, Nomos, Leu, and then Kunker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akeady Posted January 13, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 13, 2023 I just did a tally - the top four in terms of coins bought are: Naville (44), Artemide (35), Tintinna (9), Naumann (8). In terms of cost per coin, the top four are completely different - CNG, Cayon, Kuenker, Tauler y Fau. I've bought less from Roma and Leu and CNG in the last couple of years due to import taxes being levied all the time now on purchases from outside the EU. Naville import to the EU via Belgium which has a 6% rate, so I still buy from them. ATB, Aidan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edessa Posted January 13, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 13, 2023 I blew about three years of my coin budget during 2022, so I imagine I will just have to enjoy the coins I purchased for a long time! To be fair, during 2021 I virtually quit buying as the prices ramped up so some of this was just a delayed reaction. Aureo & Calico 1 coin Baldwins 1 coin Berk 5 coins CNG 52 coins DNW 1 coin Elsen 3 coins Goldberg 29 coins Herakles 14 coins Heritage 19 coins Jesus Vico 1 coin Leu 14 coins MDC Monaco 1 coin Naville 1 coin Nomisma 1 coin Nomos 2 coins Noonans 1 coin Naumann 1 coin Roma 43 coins Soler y Llach 2 coins Stack's 5 coins Stephen Album 6 coins The only bad experience was the 11 coins purchased from Bertolami in March that are still unaccounted for. There is yet no resolution from their end and I am out $3,080. I am not sure exactly what value I was supposed to get from the 480 EUR Buyer's Fee or the 50 EUR fee for Shipping and Insurance. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarco Posted January 13, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 13, 2023 My 2022 purchases were equally divided between auctions and fixed-price dealers. Auction House No. of Coins Leu Numismatik 3 Artemide Kunstauktionen GmbH 2 Roma Numismatics 2 Baldwin's Auctions 1 Classical Numismatic Group 1 Numismatik Naumann 1 Savoca Coins 1 Dealer No. of Coins Aegean Numismatics 2 Silbury Coins 2 CIVITAS Galleries 1 GB Collection 1 Marc Breitsprecher, Classical Numismatist 1 Tom Vossen 1 Victor's Imperial Coins 1 Zurqieh 1 Zuzim Inc. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cazador Posted January 13, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 13, 2023 3 hours ago, Edessa said: I blew about three years of my coin budget during 2022, so I imagine I will just have to enjoy the coins I purchased for a long time! To be fair, during 2021 I virtually quit buying as the prices ramped up so some of this was just a delayed reaction. Aureo & Calico 1 coin Baldwins 1 coin Berk 5 coins CNG 52 coins DNW 1 coin Elsen 3 coins Goldberg 29 coins Herakles 14 coins Heritage 19 coins Jesus Vico 1 coin Leu 14 coins MDC Monaco 1 coin Naville 1 coin Nomisma 1 coin Nomos 2 coins Noonans 1 coin Naumann 1 coin Roma 43 coins Soler y Llach 2 coins Stack's 5 coins Stephen Album 6 coins The only bad experience was the 11 coins purchased from Bertolami in March that are still unaccounted for. There is yet no resolution from their end and I am out $3,080. I am not sure exactly what value I was supposed to get from the 480 EUR Buyer's Fee or the 50 EUR fee for Shipping and Insurance. Wait, What, so many coins in one year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol_Invictus Posted January 13, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 13, 2023 The only auction house I bought from last year was Roma (13 coins, including 3 fixed price unsolds). The vcoins dealers I purchased from last year are: David Connors - 6 coins Ken Dorney - 6 coins Incitatus - 3 coins Den of Antiquity - 2 coins Aegean Numismatics - 1 coin Washington Numismatic Gallery - 1 coin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted January 13, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 13, 2023 In 2022, I didn't buy many coins at all. A few of them came from the following auction houses: Teutoburger Münzauktionen (4) Artemide (2) Savoca (2) Höhn (1) JAZ (1) The two Savoca coins were LRBs of a less common reverse type that sold at a low price, so I would count these as opportunistic bargain purchases. The rest were more expensive coins that I had been actively looking for for at least some time. Especially when it comes to my specialized medieval collecting fields, waiting for a coin to be auctioned at a reasonable price generally pays off. The markups at retail are usually high, and auction prices fluctuate a lot depending on who is bidding. I am the underbidder quite often, but now and then I win something without overpaying... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edessa Posted January 13, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 13, 2023 7 hours ago, El Cazador said: Wait, What, so many coins in one year? 2022 was unique in my 40 year collecting history. As a newly minted widower dealing with Covid in 2021, I did not purchase a single coin during the entire year. The fact that prices were surging on the nicer coins during the lockdown also made me hesitant as I was, and still am, afraid that the Ancient Coin Industry is going to become the same type of slab-dominated, grade-obsessed market that I had seen in US coins. Applying machine "language" to hand-made craftmanship is something of a struggle, but if it will make someone a dollar then I am sure that "will will find a way". In 2023 I accepted that I would simply have to pay a bit more for even the middling tier coins that I collect and if the coin happened to be in a slab, that situation could be temporary. Guiltily, I even realized that I rather enjoyed having the nicer of my thin, somewhat fragile medieval coins in slabs and followed a local dealer's recommendation to leave those few coins entombed. Even then it probably would have been a normal year except that last summer Goldberg sold that collection of Roman Syrian Tetradrachms and Heritage has been selling off the Historical Scholar collection, which contains many rarities spread over a wide range of types and conditions. Both of those areas appeal to me. Another aspect of my "accumulation" is that, unlike you smart people, I have never managed to focus my collection scheme beyond "coins with good eye appeal" and/or coins that interest me for one historical reason or another. I have an excellent group of coins to study history of the figures and historical events involved, but, other than the odd example of two, it will be relatively useless accumulation for those of you who study Numismatics. That doesn't bother me as I am perfectly happy reading ANS and BNS publications written by others. I 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted January 14, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 14, 2023 While there's no convenient way for me to exactly quantify which coin came from whom, I'll have to estimate. Auctions: 0. Fixed price dealers London Ancient Coins 40% of 2022 buys Savoca 20% Zurquieh c. 5% As far as I can recall, the rest would be one or two buys each; Numiscorner, Forum, Marc Breitsprecher, Aegean, Biga, Opisthodomus (I was one of the lucky ones who received my order), HJB, David Connors, Dr. Busso Peus. Probably 80% of my buys were overseas from European dealers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor DonnaML Posted January 14, 2023 · Benefactor Author Benefactor Share Posted January 14, 2023 20 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said: While there's no convenient way for me to exactly quantify which coin came from whom, I'll have to estimate. You don't download and keep copies of the receipts/invoices/coin listings, or maintain any kind of catalog? It's always a good idea to do that, both for reference purposes and in case you ever sell your collection! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted January 14, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 14, 2023 I've been keeping sale records of online purchases since around 2006. This involves saving an offline copy of the original listing and keeping any paper receipts. An excel sheet would provide more exact records of from whom I bought, and probably could be done fairly pain-free with current purchases. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted January 16, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 16, 2023 DonnaML inspired me to create that excel list. While it'll take a long time to catalog all 30 years, I managed to make a complete one for 2022-3, only leaving out dirtyoldcoins' bulk lots. More accurate information showed that I seriously underestimated buys from Marc Breitsprecher. Even though I only started buying from them in September, Savoca came racing up in the end. I was also surprised that so many came from Zurquieh. The most expensive single items came from Dr. Busso Peus (Tiberius III Solidus) and HJB, a rare Ravenna Justinian II AE, which almost got destroyed in the mail. Non-U.S. buys accounted for 67% of the total. London Ancient Coins 16 Marc Breitsprecher 14 Zurquieh 11 Savoca 9 David Connors 4 Opisthodomos 4 Forum 3 GB Collection 3 Incitatus coins 3 local coin store 3 Numiscorner 3 Secret Saturnalia gift 3 Tom Vossen 3 Biga 2 Dr. Busso Peus 2 NeroNumi 2 Aegean 1 HJB 1 Laurel Certified Coins 1 Marcantica 1 Praefectus Coins 1 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furryfrog02 Posted January 16, 2023 · Supporter Share Posted January 16, 2023 If ebay counts...that's my jam. I haven't purchased a coin from an auction house. The fees and shipping are cost prohibitive for my price point. I enjoy window shopping though 🙂 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJBrinkman Posted January 17, 2023 · Member Share Posted January 17, 2023 Here are my 2022 Auction winnings. Not many coins this year but CNG and Roma came through with my favorites of all: Gerhard Hirsch 1 - Roman Imperial Leu 3 - (2 Roman Imperial, 1 Roman Republican) CNG 3 - (1 Roman Republican, 1 Roman Imperial, 1 English milled Liz I 6pence ) DNW 1 (English Hammered Liz 1 6Pence, companion to the above milled coin) Roma 2 - (1 Roman Republican, 1 Roman Imperial) Vico 1 - Roman Republican InAsta 1 - Roman Republican Artemide 1 - Roman Republican Stacks Bowers 1 - English Hammered Penny of King John 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor robinjojo Posted January 17, 2023 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted January 17, 2023 Lots of purchases from Roma, with CNG a distant second. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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