Strange choice for Lot of 5 at Roma Numismatics

[Steppenfool]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was very shocked to see such a beautiful Caracalla antoninianus with radiate Lion holding thunderbolt reverse in this job lot! Why could this be? This coin is very valuable, especially in this condition which is maybe just shy of EF? It doesn't even fit with the time period of the other coins which are from the Third Century Crisis.

 

Estimate £50 and the current bid is already £200 so people have noticed!

 

 

[Kali]

It is a stunning example. Maybe it's just to entice bidders to take notice, who are scrolling. Otherwise, it's a boring lot without it.

[Steppenfool]

4 minutes ago, Kali said:

It is a stunning example. Maybe it's just to entice bidders to take notice, who are scrolling. Otherwise, it's a boring lot without it.

Roma aren't averse to boring group lots, all the other ones are! I wonder how the consigner is taking this? I'd be upset if it was my coin, but perhaps there is some additional context that explains it.

[Kali]

53 minutes ago, Steppenfool said:

Roma aren't averse to boring group lots, all the other ones are! I wonder how the consigner is taking this? I'd be upset if it was my coin, but perhaps there is some additional context that explains it.

Maybe, I don't play in the auction house sandboxes, with all the weekly dung postings that others experience with them, I prefer to stick with good dealers and Ebay, who's dung is shiner and easier to avoid, to me.

[KenDorney]

Unless you ask them we can only speculate.  It happens from time to time with most auction houses, and if you are lucky you can get some nice stuff cheap (though I am certain this post will drive the price way up to retail and maybe above).  I once was able to snag a nice lot in a CNG auction, the very last lot in the auction which contained a strong and Good VF Julius Caesar bronze.  I think I paid just under $100 for all the coins (dont remember how many) and at the time those JC's were selling about $300-500.

So why was it in there?  No idea, but it could have been added as an afterthought by a consignor who wanted it gone.  Most deals like this no longer exist though.  Too many eyes out there!

[DLTcoins]

My guess is that it has something to do with consignments and bookkeeping.

[Steppenfool]

31 minutes ago, KenDorney said:

Unless you ask them we can only speculate.  It happens from time to time with most auction houses, and if you are lucky you can get some nice stuff cheap (though I am certain this post will drive the price way up to retail and maybe above).  I once was able to snag a nice lot in a CNG auction, the very last lot in the auction which contained a strong and Good VF Julius Caesar bronze.  I think I paid just under $100 for all the coins (dont remember how many) and at the time those JC's were selling about $300-500.

So why was it in there?  No idea, but it could have been added as an afterthought by a consignor who wanted it gone.  Most deals like this no longer exist though.  Too many eyes out there!

 

I only posted it because the current bid is already £200 with some time to go. So there's at least a bid of 190 and a bid at 200 or greater already, which to me means the cat is already out of the bag!

My biggest question was whether the coin was perhaps altered or of dubious authenticity or something, hence the necessity to stick it in a sold as seen, no returns group lot.

Perhpas taking the hit by sticking a great coin in the odd group lot, ensures people will continue to actually browse them rather than writing them off?

[Finn235]

CNG and Roma have some pretty incredible large lots and a pretty substantial number of my collection has come from them. This was one of my favorites from Roma a couple years ago

Yes, that is a Didius Julianus sestertius - that coin alone I sold for almost as much as the whole lot cost me

[ambr0zie]

Nice lot. That's one of the differences between a premium auction house and a budget one. (edit - I mean the OP, as on @Finn235's post I speculate tha they really made a blooper and they thought it's a Septimius Severus) 

In a budget auction house all of these coins would have been surely offered individually and even if they are common, they would have received good bids, as the conditions are well above average. The Caracalla antoninianus is the king of the lot - no doubts here - but I like a lot the artistry of the Trebonianus Gallus with Juno Martialis. The top Gordian is very appealing also. 

I strongly suspect the hammer price will increase much more. 

For me there are 3 possible reasons:

1. The auction house did not pay attention and wanted to group a lot of 5 random antoninianii in good/excellent condition. They did not notice one of them is Caracalla. I find this very unlikely - I never bought from Roma but reading about them, this is not a mistake they'd make. 

2. This is intentional. For budget houses I saw more than once group of, for example 5 coins. 4 of them quite bad, one of them much more interesting. People are bidding on the lot because they want the interesting coin. And in the end the hammer price might be higher than what they would have obtained selling all of them individually. AND they sell the bad coins, that could have remained unsold if they were offered in a simple group (without an interesting coin) or individually. 

Perhaps this is the same thing on a different scale - rather than offering a group of 4 common antoninianii in excellent condition, they offer 5 of them, one being also rare. 

3. This might be the consignor's special request. And I strongly suspect this is the case here. Why? No clue. To be honest, this might be what I will do if and when I sell my collection. Rather than selling individually, I would prefer groups of 5-10 coins. 

Edited September 20, 2023 by ambr0zie

[Harry G]

When I've consigned with them in the past, they've sometimes suggested putting a rare coin in a lot to get some interest in the whole lot, and I assume that's what's happened here. I remember there was another lot that came up for sale around the same time as the Didius Julianus lot posted above - It included a sole reign Vabalathus antoninianus and several very rare quinarii of the tetrarchy, as well as lots of other very nice coins (Claudius II Smyrna ant, Maximian under Carausius ant eyc.) Unfortunately, I was the underbidder of that lot.

I have actually consigned a very rare antoninianus of Postumus (as well as  several separate lots) in the current auction, which isn't labelled as a "special lot" (a black box around it to indicate the rarity of the coin). I'm hoping buyers will notice it, as it looks like it should be a very common coin...

Sold (nicer) example: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?lot=498&p=lot&sid=3466

Edited September 20, 2023 by Harry G

[Finn235]

5 hours ago, Harry G said:

When I've consigned with them in the past, they've sometimes suggested putting a rare coin in a lot to get some interest in the whole lot, and I assume that's what's happened here. I remember there was another lot that came up for sale around the same time as the Didius Julianus lot posted above - It included a sole reign Vabalathus antoninianus and several very rare quinarii of the tetrarchy, as well as lots of other very nice coins (Claudius II Smyrna ant, Maximian under Carausius ant eyc.) Unfortunately, I was the underbidder of that lot.

 

 

I remember that one - I tried to win it but I didn't have the funds to go any higher after winning the other lots! What really caught my eye with that one was the Vabalathus of course, and the Tacitus quinarius. I've never understood lots like this one - if you wanted to save money on the flat listing fee, you'd probably do much better just selling the coins yourself, either on ebay or a direct channel like this forum.