Do you have any coin misses or regrets?

[JayAg47]

I know this topic has been discussed in other forums, but recently I missed out on this unattributed sestertius. I'm pretty sure it's a left facing Titus. I got the ebay page up and ready to enter my bid (I usually bid towards the end), while I was also working on other things in my laptop, and simply missed the auction by seconds.

I really like the portrait despite the coin being totally worn and with absolutely no reverse. Definitely nothing valuable but missing out on this for the opening bid of $12 hurt a little. 

[Heliodromus]

Yeah ... definitely a few misses, where coins that are realistically once-in-a-lifetime have sold for ridiculously low prices before I was even aware of them. Those are the ones that annoy me! I can also think of a couple of regrets where I thought I bid high, but lost, and in retrospect wish I went higher. You can kind of guage whether you maybe should have bid higher by your immediate reaction to losing - regret or relief !

 

[John Conduitt]

I set an alarm even if the end time is in 5 minutes in case I get distracted. Less than 3 minutes, I watch the timer 🤣

Often something appears on a dealer's website or fixed price list, but is sold already. Why didn't I look two hours earlier?
 

21 minutes ago, Heliodromus said:

I can also think of a couple of regrets where I thought I bid high, but lost, and in retrospect wish I went higher. You can kind of guage whether you maybe should have bid higher by your immediate reaction to losing - regret or relief !

This happens a lot. Even with careful planning and what-if scenarios, I don't seem to be able to predict how I'll feel afterwards.

[ambr0zie]

I think all the collectors have a long list of coins they missed and then banged their heads against the desk a few times. 

For me there are 3 categories of coins, starting from the ones that are least annoying and going in progression (or regression)

- when I check a recent auction just for curiosity and see great coins that were just sold but I didn't check the auction properly/didn't check it at all
- when I prepare my wish list for an auction and I rate the coins according to my priority; to simplify, let's say there are 2 coins, coin 1 minor priority and coin 2 major priority. Coin 1 comes live. I don't bid aggressively enough and I lose it, because I would prefer coin 2  and I save funds. Coin 2 comes. Bidding on it leaves me no chance. I tend to regret coin 1 a lot
- most annoying - when I just miss a coin even if I check the list 3-4 times; I have a technical issue during the auction (it happened); or when during the auction I do other things and I see the coin I was after has just ended. 

My suggestion is not to think too much about misses as you will not know how to concentrate on winnings. 

Note - the most successful purchases, for me, are the ones where I manage to get a coin type I missed months ago and I get a second chance. 

I lost this and I regretted it a lot (I was concentrating on another target and decided to save funds - failed the bigger target also)

Not something very special, but it took me 1 year to get a Diadumenian coin. And I think I did much better with this (...similar type!)

Edited October 8, 2023 by ambr0zie

[CPK]

Yes, one time I had the opportunity to acquire a very rare and quite fascinating bronze as of Septimius Severus...I placed what I thought was a very high bid but then found out later that I had been outbid last minute by maybe 10%. Ugh, it still pains me to think about! If it wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it was at least once a decade or so - I was unable to find even a single example cited online (though it is included in RIC)

What always makes these situations worse is when the hammer is still within your means...I wouldn't have felt so bad about it if it had gone for 2 or 3x my max bid.

Oh well, there have also been plenty of seized opportunities too! One must take the rough with the smooth.

 

[kirispupis]

There have been a number of misses. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have had this happen

• I bid on a coin without realizing how rare it truly was. Therefore, I bid too low and only later realized that the price it went for was still a steal.
• I waited too long on a coin at a store and it sold. Of course it's extremely rare so I'm still waiting for another one...
• After researching, I realize that an extremely rare coin that fits exactly what I'm looking for sold last month at an auction I paid attention to, and of course it's unlikely to come up again for another few years.

That being said, I'm very proud of what I have picked up. You win some and you lose some.

[Salomons Cat]

Yep… I‘ve had 2 weeks of a mild depressive episode after missing a denarius with a nice portrait of Marcus Aurelius last May:

https://www.artemideaste.com/auction/view/872/608

I also wanted to bid on this here, but couldn’t because work got in the way:

https://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=2237628&AucID=5442&Lot=36&Val=9af73dca054250678cbc2e1605bee760

I think that these were the my most painful “losses” from the past 6 months. 

Still hurts a little bit. But not much anymore. Nobody knows if I had won if I had placed bids on these coins. And over time, I anticipate encountering numerous enticing coins available for purchase, far exceeding what I can realistically acquire or possess. And I’m very grateful for the coins that I own. Before I buy a coin I always check all coins of the same (or similar) type on acsearch from the past 3 years - and I must honestly say that’ I’m happy with my collection. 

So, all in all… no ragrets.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Salomons Cat

[Limes]

Well, misses yes, and regrets a bit. But I think regrets really count if a miss is completely due to your own mistake. Participating in auctions involves factors that are not mine to influence. Theres always another bidder with maybe a higher budget. And since my budget is not limitless, i must make choices. And sometimes the choices turn out good, sometimes wrong. For example if there are a couple of targets, i must make a decision which I want to go for the most. If my preferred target is auctioned after the other target, and my budget proves to be insufficient for the main target, but would have been enough for the earlier target, it feels disappointing.

I once saved the budget to go for a Hadrian sesterius, and I passed on a Nero sesterius. The Hadrian sesterius proved to be above.budget, but I would have been able to join the fight for the Nero sesterius. Though its of course not certain if my budget would have been enough for the Nero sesterius. It also depends on the other bidder's budget, which is unknown.

luckily there are enough ancient coins going around. Theres always another opportunity!

[David Atherton]

On 10/8/2023 at 7:53 AM, JayAg47 said:

I'm pretty sure it's a left facing Titus.

 

Yes, that's a COS VIII style Titus (80-81 AD). The reverse is too poor for me to see what type it is ... probably best you missed out!

 

I have a few regrets, but this one stands out. And it's a coin I sold a decade ago and have regretted so ever since.

Domitian RIC 601A, unique. I must've been out of my mind to let it go ...

Edited October 9, 2023 by David Atherton

[ela126]

Many good regrets that can't be completely controlled have been mentioned earlier, and i do have those as well.

One other regret, that i cannot control, but is continually occuring for me regards how auctions are set up.

Since there are considerably more European ancient coin auctions, one must factor in shipping costs with purchases. With shipping many times being 25-30 usd or more. That's the cost of a respectable common coin itself. So, i usually have to save up enough money to consider participating in an auction where that shipping cost will be a fraction (10% or less) of the coin purchase price. I choose these auctions based on one of two potetnial rare Byzantine coins i'd like to win. 

The issue stems from Byzantine coins almost always being reflected late in the auction, and frankly the rare coins even within the Byzantine group, being mid way through the lot of them. Where my continual regrets come from is needing to either skip over all the lower end greek or roman coins i'd be interested in, but can't chance buying in case the target Byzantine coin goes above my purchase price. Or, if i get lucky, winning the target coin less than the amount i expected, and not meeting my % coin versus shipping, and having very limited auction left to purchase coins with the remaining funds. 

I suppose on reoccuring auctions, i could ask the auction house to hold my shipment until the next one and combine them, but i have yet to go down this route.

As far as specific coins i remember, nothing that pains me to this day.

[KenDorney]

As a collector and dealer for nearly 4 decades, I can say that I wish I had taken advantage of any and all hoards that have come up.  Typically hoard coins are absorbed by the market quickly and often dont come back to the market for a long while.  So, if you are on the fence about an Athenian tetradrachm, or Armenian (just to mention two hoards), buy them now.  Likely wont come back for a while and I guarantee at much higher prices.

[Valentinian]

12 hours ago, Salomons Cat said:

I also wanted to bid on this here, but couldn’t because work got in the way:

I know that bidding at the last instant has the greatest likelihood of success, but I bid a bit early anyway and have lots of luck doing so (and I never get carried away in the heat of the moment). If I have to be gone when a coin is closing, or even if I don't, I enter my max earlier when I can and let the chips fall where they may. There are always other desirable coins offered soon thereafter if I don't win one with that approach.

[Salomons Cat]

On 10/10/2023 at 12:16 AM, Valentinian said:

I know that bidding at the last instant has the greatest likelihood of success, but I bid a bit early anyway and have lots of luck doing so (and I never get carried away in the heat of the moment). If I have to be gone when a coin is closing, or even if I don't, I enter my max earlier when I can and let the chips fall where they may. There are always other desirable coins offered soon thereafter if I don't win one with that approach.

That's true, of course. But if I really want a coin and if I know that I have time at the last instant when the auction closes, then I prefer to bid late. 

I really wished that I could have bought this coin...
Of course, there are a few specimens on vcoins, but it's really, really hard to find one in this condition and it hammered for "only" 750 CHF. 
At the time when this Vespasian was auctioned by Leu, I was supposed to have a free afternoon. A new colleague at work couldn't keep up with the work load and I was asked to stay a bit longer in the hospital...
But I always have to remind myself that there is something that I call "The effect of Salomon's cat". It's closely related to "Schrödinger's cat". It describes the phenomenon that a certain coin is both cheap and expensive, as long as I don't participate in the auction. Because as soon as soon as I participate in an auction, the coin usually becomes quite expensive 😄

And I could win 2 other fabulous coins in the same auction, later. So, no reason to regret anything.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Salomons Cat

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

I seem unable to get an example of a zodiac drachm of Antoninus Pius from Alexandria. I've bid on an Ares, a Leo, a Cancer, an Aries, etc. I always lose even my snipes have been too low, even though they have run into the thousands of dollars. They don't come up very often. The coin featuring all 12 signs of the zodiac also is impossible to get. I saw a couple of Ares examples on a fixed price list but of course they have long since been sold. HELP!

 

Frustrating.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[Salomons Cat]

6 minutes ago, Ancient Coin Hunter said:

I seem unable to get an example of a zodiac drachm of Antoninus Pius from Alexandria. I've bid on an Ares, a Leo, a Cancer, an Aries, etc. I always lose even my snipes have been too low, even though they have run into the thousands of dollars. They don't come up very often. The coin featuring all 12 signs of the zodiac also is impossible to get. I saw a couple of Ares examples on a fixed price lost but of course they have long since been sold. HELP!

 

Frustrating.

Oh yes, I remember how surprised I was when I first noticed the prices for these coins… 

There must be some very wealthy people somewhere out there who only collect zodiac coins. 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

11 minutes ago, Salomons Cat said:

Oh yes, I remember how surprised I was when I first noticed the prices for these coins… 

There must be some very wealthy people somewhere out there who only collect zodiac coins. 

It must be people who are into Astrology. Pass the popcorn...🍿

Edited October 10, 2023 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[Al Kowsky]

For the longest time I had been on the lookout for a Ptolemy III large bronze (drachm) that didn't have any problems, & got excited when the Classical Numismatic Review Volume XLVI, No. 1, Winter 2021 arrived ☺️. David Michaels had authored a featured article, Collecting Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire, & many Ptolemaic coins were offered in that issue. I then spotted the coin pictured below. 

         

Ptolemy III Euergetes, 246-222 BC. AE Drachm: 72.62 gm, 42 mm, 12 h. Svoronos 964. An impressive large bronze. $1,750.00

I called CNG the following day to see if the coin was still available but it had sold ☹️. The goddess Moneta must have been watching me & let the coin pass; it really wasn't worth the price they were asking for it or was it 🤔? Then on August 10, 2022 I spotted the Ptolemaic bronze pictured below on Heritage Auction 232232. I ended up winning the coin for $900.00, including the buyer's premium 😃.

Pictured below are the two coins together for comparison. The Heritage coin was clearly the better buy ☺️.

 

[Roman Collector]

This wasn't an oversight, so I don't know that I can call it a "miss"; it's just a case of getting Clio'd.

I really wanted this one but had already committed hundreds of dollars to other auctions this month and couldn't compete. I placed bid after bid after bid and watched in disbelief as it soared to 500 EUR. And who knows how much I'd have had to bid to win it? 550? 600? 650? I couldn't believe it. After all, how many other collectors are there who care about bust varieties of Faustina the Younger? I hope it at least went to @shanxi or another of my friends here.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Roman Collector
Clarity

[Curtisimo]

Twice in my collecting history I’ve decided to pull the trigger on a coin at retail I had been watching for a while only to find out it had just sold.

Of the two, this one hurt the worst. 😔

[shanxi]

On 10/10/2023 at 3:38 PM, Roman Collector said:

I hope it at least went to @shanxi or another of my friends here.

Yes, that was me .  Hopefully you will find another example soon.

 

 

About coin misses.

Some years ago I missed another Faustina II denar because the price went high and I had already spent my monthly budget: A SAECVLI FELICIT, Commodus and Titus Aurelius Fulvus on the throne, and two stars above them as on the sestertii. I still get annoyed about missing this coin and look for stars on every SAECVLI FELICIT denarius I see.

I have never seen another example. 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by shanxi

[Ursus]

I've got many. This one is my latest: Last Friday morning, the coin below was up for auction. I had my heart set on bidding on it during the online live auction. I was working from home that day. Theoretically, it shouldn't have been a problem to take a break to watch the relevant part of the auction. But unfortunately, I got an important e-mail just before the auction started and had to make some calls that couldn't wait. Next time I looked, the coin had already been sold for way less than the limit I had set myself. What a bummer!

 

[Deinomenid]

This is a good miss/regret one that brought  out the worst of greed and  fear. On ebay a Syracuse dekadrachm was offered for sale a few years ago. Very low limit,  I think 10 euros or something. So 10 euro  ebay dekadrachm. Obviously  fake right? No question. But...it looked good. Or at least there was a fair chance it looked  good. There was possibly the sign of filing on the edge, possibly the sign of a seam, but not convincingly so. Various  people spoke confidently for one side or the other but the fact that it MIGHT be good and  if so worth 40-60k was tempting. Plus  it got punters second guessing  each other.  Why was X saying  it was clearly a fake - maybe  he  knew  it was real and  was scaring everyone off.

It had punters wargaming it. There was a say 20% chance it was good say so theoretically it was worth a ~10k gamble if you had 10k you could lose. At 100 euros it was a fantastic risk reward. 

Long story short it went for 4k or so in the end and I'm fairly sure  it would have gone to someone who had done that sort of calculation  rather than a hopeless romantic  thinking they'd  got a definitely good  coin cheap. It wasn't me!

This is the coin including showing a suspicious area-

 

 

 

 

[Heliodromus]

26 minutes ago, Deinomenid said:

There was possibly the sign of filing on the edge, possibly the sign of a seam,

How many genuine coins of this type are there ? That does look like a casting seam, but it seems too good not to at least be copied from an official die. Has anyone tried to find the original it may have been copied from ?

 

[Deinomenid]

It's a  Kimon as opposed to Euainetos coin, so  far more  limited in numbers and in dies. There are known  genuine versions of the type so it pretty much definitely wasn't say a cast from a modern fake version. Another slight thing in its favour is that some modern versions  try to chisel the Kimon symbols (up to 3 per coin) fairly obviously, so as  to  get the price  up.  Of course it could be a double  bluff, but  honestly at 4k were it  up  for sale  now  I'd say  it wasn't a bad risk reward, and this is from someone who spends way too much time  being horrified at the sins of Caprara etc!

I don't know what happened afterwards, though I'd love to. If  it were real then the new owner would rightly do everything in their  power to hide the ebay memory.

[Heliodromus]

It's a beautiful coin, real or not. I keep coming back to look at it!