Auction madness and competition.

[Dafydd]

I was surprised to see this lot offered in next Saturday's N&N of London Auction 20.

Here are the lot details.

This lot represents a pleasant surprise directed towards our esteemed customers. The image of this particular lot is exclusively accessible to the Biddr management and will remain undisclosed until the completion of the auction. Subsequently, the highest bidder shall be granted the privilege of acquiring this coin, which could potentially be of low or high value, thereby contributing to the overall anticipation and element of surprise. We cordially extend an invitation to participate in the bidding process for this undisclosed item. May fortune favor your endeavors!

 

You have read it correctly, you are bidding blind for something that could be of low or high value!

The current bidding stands at £300 /$385 with 11 bids. This is a clever device based on greed and intrigue. Most people would assume that the coin would have to be good for the auction house to avoid criticism. 

Am I missing out on a Aureus or that elusive lifetime portrait of Julius Caesar for maybe $500, or would my surprise be another Gloria Exercitus Contantine Follis but in great condition? Personally I am not prepared to take the gamble of possibly acquiring something outside of my collecting interests for hundreds of pounds.  However, whatever the coin is, you could hardly complain having bid blind.

I am not that cynical but it did occur to me that once the initial auction is finished, this would be a great way to unload high value but unattractive coins in the future. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and priced catalogues can never determine an individuals preference for colour or tone. But I digress.

I thought I would celebrate this interesting new auction house device with a competition to run simultaneously. I will offer a prize to whoever guesses the closest to what the surprise lot is. Please be specific to avoid ties and first closest answer wins. 

I will take a little mystery out of the prize by stating that the winner can choose between a Roman coin or a British coin and I will ship anywhere.

My money, metaphorically speaking, is on a Greek coin as this auction features more Greek coins than anything else. I know little about Greek coinage so wouldn't hazard a guess myself.

Winner will be announced after the Auction reveals what the surprise lot is.

Good luck to those that enter.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Dafydd
Typo

[ComicMan]

I won't lie I would be curious to see what it is (if they don't reveal it at the end, only to the winner I think there will be a riot), and since Biddr knows so there can be no switcheroo. And if it is a low value coin then there will similarly be an uproar, and nobody will participate in the next such thing. So, I think that it is something that is high value, probably not rare or in exceptional condition.

Since you are offering a prize I might as well hazard a guess, I think that it will be a Lysimachos Tetradrachm. Not based on anything, but that is what my gut is telling me.

But I think that this is a really scummy tactic tbh, and I do not support auction houses making use of this kind of Gatcha method.

[Steppenfool]

I thought this was absolutely mad, who on earth would participate in this?

N&N London (Location:London, coins shipped from Belgium) are ambiguous about their location, and land you with a £35 shipping charge. Therefore, they would be the last house I would engage in such a gamble with.

[CPK]

Interesting. I'm also curious to know what it will be. Not curious enough to pay $500 though, that's for sure.

[Dafydd]

9 hours ago, Steppenfool said:

I thought this was absolutely mad, who on earth would participate in this?

 

N&N London (Location:London, coins shipped from Belgium) are ambiguous abut their location, and land you with a £35 shipping charge. Therefore, they would be the last house I would engage in such a gamble with.

 

I agree with @Steppenfool quite mad. 

 

I bought a couple of coins from them last month assuming they were based in London. The initial invoice added £35 and I complained as I said they had insinuated they were based in London. The charge was withdrawn and I had the opportunity to pay £10 for mail. The coins turned up a couple of days later with no drama. In the past I have bought a couple of inexpensive coins at Savoca and they held them for me until the next auction as the DHL charge was more than the coins so I consolidated them with something else.

The coins I bought from N&N  were

Lot 343    Honorius Follis Hammer £4.00 GBP

HADRIAN, (A.D. 117-138), AE AS, (12.56 Gr. 25 mm.) Rome
Laureate draped bust to right of Hadrian
Rev. Fortuna-Concordia standing left holding patera and cornucopiae, S C across.  Hammer £20.00 GBP.

Lot 411 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Dafydd
Wrong price quoted on Honorius

[kirispupis]

My guess is it's a classical Athens tet without full crest. 🙂

Edited July 22, 2023 by kirispupis

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I'm guessing a Syrian Tyche provincial AE with bad bronze disease, and a signed photo of Edith Massey.   Just kidding.

[Limes]

I would never participate, but at least 7 bidders disagree 😁 My uneducated guess is their lot no. 50, which was withdrawn. Obviously that's the coin for the winner of lot no. 1! Either fake (low value), or real (higher value), it's a surprise either way. 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

What was lot 50?

[sand]

This N&N London scheme seems certain to create ill will, unless the coin is way more valuable than the highest bid. But, N&N London has no idea, what the highest bid will be. Therefore, it seems like a risky scheme, to me. $385 is a lot of money to me. But perhaps, for someone with deep pockets, $385 is worth it, just for the fun of it, and for the prestige of it, and for the chance to win a very valuable coin for a low price. Like buying a very expensive lottery ticket. Perhaps this is a creative way to legally gamble, in countries where gambling is illegal (are there any such countries? I don't know). It  would be interesting to see, what the final hammer price will be, and what the actual coin is.

Edited July 22, 2023 by sand

[Hrefn]

N&N has certainly benefitted from the auction of the mystery coin since we are all talking about it.  Free publicity.  Personally, I will not bid, but if I had money to burn, I might.  But the more bids that are placed, the higher the hammer price, and the less likelihood that the winner will be happy.  

[David Atherton]

I wonder if those who bid also play the lottery? 🤔

[ominus1]

...here's how i feel when bidding on coins most of the time....

[Roman Collector]

It's going to turn out to be a PVELLAE FAVSTINIANAE denarius of Faustina I, which will sell for about 1/3 its market value. I believe this simply because Fortuna is out to spite me.

[Furryfrog02]

Curious but I'm not on for bidding on "blind boxes". Seems like a way for them to offload crap for higher than normal prices just for the "potential" to get something good. I'll put my money into the lotter instead, thank you 😛

[JayAg47]

My guess would be a Porus decadrachm of Alexander III, why the heck not!

[Valentinian]

I guess it is a very nice tetradrachm of Alexander the Great. 

[AETHER]

They will pick and choose what the prize is after they see the final bid. 

[Phil Davis]

10 minutes ago, AETHER said:

They will pick and choose what the prize is after they see the final bid. 

Not unless you suspect the Biddr management of being in on the scam. If you reread the OP, you'll see that your concern has been addressed.

[KenDorney]

This is not something I would participate in, but obviously its got at least two people willing to try it out so far.  My wild guess is that it will be a Greek tetradrachm of some sort.  But, value is an entirely relative concept.  The winner may not have any interest in what they get and not see any value to it.  Anyway, its an interesting side note to the hobby and business, and one I am guessing will not be repeated (at least not by anyone else).

[Curtisimo]

I guess it will be a Poseidonia nomos.

[Rand]

I guess the bidders could be related to the N&N LONDON LTD team itself. It would make sense for their advert campaign to show it sells to the bidder's advantage.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Rand

[Prieure de Sion]

First of all, let's talk about N&N London itself. I have nothing bad to say about the auction house in general. I always find interesting coins there - especially Roman provinces. When I won, the auction house was always serious - after payment, my coins were always delivered very quickly.

About the action. I see it in two ways. Maybe it shouldn't be taken so seriously - it's a little game. It also loosens up the landscape of auctions a bit - maybe. But is it really reprehensible? Does anyone know these travel suitcase auctions at airports and train stations. Here, too, they auction blindly. And you can be lucky or unlucky. And there are also other auctions - where a container or pallet is auctioned blind. Has anyone ever been upset about that?

But what is important. No matter whether a suitcase, a pallet, a container - or, as in this case, a coin - is auctioned off, no one is forced to take part!

Of course, the curiosity of the interested parties is played with - but that is no different with the suitcase auction. But the good thing is - people who enjoy it should bid - I don't have to.

People - we are all adults - you don't always have to want everyone to be protected from everything 🙂

[Prieure de Sion]

PS: the funny thing is - many who condemn this auction will end up 100% curious about it - what the result is.

😄 

[Rand]

Can hardly be more intrigued - I do not know who they are, where they are, where their coins are coming from and now what coin I am offered to bid on. 🙂

Edited July 23, 2023 by Rand