Benefactor kirispupis Posted January 10 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted January 10 I just admit I was very hurt this morning to get outbid on a coin I really wanted at the latest Triton auction. I should have known, since I've never won a single coin at a Triton or any of the other premier auctions. The problem is I'm always after some rarity and there's always someone at those types of auctions who doesn't care what he spends. In this case, I bid on two coins and felt my bids were strong since they were both records for those (rare) types. On the second coin I was quickly outbid and it wound up going for 3x my bid, but on the second I was the underbidder. I can't really fault myself, since I put in the highest I've ever offered for a coin. I just hope whoever won it really appreciates it and I don't see it on Shanna Schmidt next month. On the positive side, both types have come up before (this is actually my second time losing on both coins), and they will both appear again. In the meantime, I picked up several "consolation" coins today! I've been watching them for months, but haven't bitten because the funds were reserved in case I won today. Several are for a new collection I'm starting. Here's my favorite of the bunch. Sure, it was minted much later, but I can't resist an image of Alexander taming Bucephalus! Here's the very first "consolation" coin I purchased. This was when I first found auctions, and I'd placed a bid on a Lysimachos tet and ten minutes before the coin came up, my max was still 3x the current bid. So, I figured I had it in the bag and photographed some wildlife. When I checked the result, I'd been outbid! I didn't realize then that most bids come the last seconds. I then noticed this coin and Thebes had been at the top of my list, so I purchased it to cheer myself up. Thebes, Boeotia AR stater 368-364 BCE 12.062g 21.2mm Kabi magistrate BCD Boiotia 539, BMC Central p.83, 150; SNG Cop 339; Hepworth 61 Things turned out in the end because I wound up with a better Lysimachos tet for less money. Lysimachos 287/281 BCE Perinthos 17.08g Kopf des vergöttlichten Alexander / Athena mit Nike-Statuette auf Cippus und Schild, Beiz. Monogramm und 2 gegenläufige Pferdeprotomen. Thompson in Festschr. Robinson (1968), -, vgl. 256 HGC 1750q; Thompson, Armenak-Hoard (=ANS MN 31, 198 - Müller, Lysimachus - Arnold-Biucchi in Festschr. Price (1998) Unpublished variant(?) Have you picked up coins to cheer yourself up after losing a major target? Let's see them! 13 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted January 10 · Supporter Share Posted January 10 12 minutes ago, kirispupis said: I just admit I was very hurt this morning to get outbid on a coin I really wanted at the latest Triton auction. I should have known, since I've never won a single coin at a Triton or any of the other premier auctions. The problem is I'm always after some rarity and there's always someone at those types of auctions who doesn't care what he spends. In this case, I bid on two coins and felt my bids were strong since they were both records for those (rare) types. On the second coin I was quickly outbid and it wound up going for 3x my bid, but on the second I was the underbidder. I can't really fault myself, since I put in the highest I've ever offered for a coin. I just hope whoever won it really appreciates it and I don't see it on Shanna Schmidt next month. On the positive side, both types have come up before (this is actually my second time losing on both coins), and they will both appear again. In the meantime, I picked up several "consolation" coins today! I've been watching them for months, but haven't bitten because the funds were reserved in case I won today. Several are for a new collection I'm starting. Here's my favorite of the bunch. Sure, it was minted much later, but I can't resist an image of Alexander taming Bucephalus! Here's the very first "consolation" coin I purchased. This was when I first found auctions, and I'd placed a bid on a Lysimachos tet and ten minutes before the coin came up, my max was still 3x the current bid. So, I figured I had it in the bag and photographed some wildlife. When I checked the result, I'd been outbid! I didn't realize then that most bids come the last seconds. I then noticed this coin and Thebes had been at the top of my list, so I purchased it to cheer myself up. Thebes, Boeotia AR stater 368-364 BCE 12.062g 21.2mm Kabi magistrate BCD Boiotia 539, BMC Central p.83, 150; SNG Cop 339; Hepworth 61 Things turned out in the end because I wound up with a better Lysimachos tet for less money. Lysimachos 287/281 BCE Perinthos 17.08g Kopf des vergöttlichten Alexander / Athena mit Nike-Statuette auf Cippus und Schild, Beiz. Monogramm und 2 gegenläufige Pferdeprotomen. Thompson in Festschr. Robinson (1968), -, vgl. 256 HGC 1750q; Thompson, Armenak-Hoard (=ANS MN 31, 198 - Müller, Lysimachus - Arnold-Biucchi in Festschr. Price (1998) Unpublished variant(?) Have you picked up coins to cheer yourself up after losing a major target? Let's see them! Is that actually Alexander and Bucephalus on the reverse of that first coin? That is really cool! Got a new type on my want list. 😉 Sorry to hear about your bad luck in the Triton. Sometimes, even if you do everything right, you just can't win. Hopefully you'll find a replacement soon! Once I bought a big Ptolemy II drachm to help fill the vacuum after losing so closely in an auction - as in, the lot hammered for my max bid - but went to a live bidder instead. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ela126 Posted January 10 · Member Share Posted January 10 Oh man. I know that feeling. Especially when no one bids on it and you go into auction day thinking you’re the only one with eyes on it… then as you say it goes for triple your highest number.. I wouldn’t say I have consolation coins, just coins I tell myself I will enjoy, after the one I lose out on. I try not to think back on coins I didn’t win, who knows, if you continued bidding, Mr. Bottomless pockets may have taking it another 50% higher. Then you’d be angry you won it at that price. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor kirispupis Posted January 10 · Benefactor Author Benefactor Share Posted January 10 7 minutes ago, CPK said: Is that actually Alexander and Bucephalus on the reverse of that first coin? That is really cool! Got a new type on my want list. 😉 It's certainly intended to be. It was minted during the time of Gordian III and is part of a large series of coins reminiscing on the times of Alexander the Great. Here's one with Olympias and her snakes. Macedon, Koinon of Macedon Pseudo-autonomous issue, time of Gordian III, 238-244 CE AE 27 mm, 14.13 g, 6 h Beroea ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ Head of Alexander the Great to right, wearing lion's skin headdress. Rev. ΚΟΙΝΟΝ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΔΙC ΝΕΩ Olympias, as Hygieia, seated left, feeding serpent from patera held in right hand, and resting left elbow on back of throne. AMNG 721a. RPC VII.2, 239 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted January 10 · Supporter Share Posted January 10 12 minutes ago, kirispupis said: It's certainly intended to be. It was minted during the time of Gordian III and is part of a large series of coins reminiscing on the times of Alexander the Great. Here's one with Olympias and her snakes. Macedon, Koinon of Macedon Pseudo-autonomous issue, time of Gordian III, 238-244 CE AE 27 mm, 14.13 g, 6 h Beroea ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ Head of Alexander the Great to right, wearing lion's skin headdress. Rev. ΚΟΙΝΟΝ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΔΙC ΝΕΩ Olympias, as Hygieia, seated left, feeding serpent from patera held in right hand, and resting left elbow on back of throne. AMNG 721a. RPC VII.2, 239 Interesting! I have been absorbing a lot of "Alexander the Great" history of late. I just finished reading The Virtues of War by Steven Pressfield, and am almost finished listening to Kenneth Harl's Great Courses series on Alexander and the Macedonian Empire. And I recently bought a copy of Adrian Goldsworthy's Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors, which I can't wait to read. The Alexander portrait on your coin displays an impressive stylistic fidelity to the old design employed by Alexander some 560 years earlier. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryro Posted January 10 · Supporter Share Posted January 10 Excellent coin of Alexander turning Bucephalusfrom the sun! And your portrait of Alexander under Lysimachos is stunning! Good Zeus above, most of my coins are consolations. Lately I couldn't get a winning bid on a coin if it was offered in my own living room! Though, sometimes we can "console" ourselves beyond the initial injury. I was very bummed to lose out on a rare coin that I was very interested in and had my old friend Bes marked as merely a snack/ travel companion after the fact. Though, I now think I prefer him and got his nymph and him for a song compared to what lesser examples have been going for: CILICIA. Uncertain. Circa 400-350 BC. Obol (Silver, 10 mm, 0.58 g, 1 h). Female head facing, turned slightly to left, wearing earrings, necklace and flowing hair. Rev. Facing head of Bes. Göktürk 44. SNG Levante 233. SNG France 486. Fine metal and attractive on both sides. Very fine. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panzerman Posted January 10 · Member Share Posted January 10 I have won 35 coins from previous Triton sales. Triton I was a bummer. I had saved up all year and ended up sending in my mail bids. I got a letter from CNG 14 days after the auction/ informing me that a won my two lots (Severus Alexander aureus) and a (Trajan Decius aureus) both in FDC. I sent them a bank draft/ exchange rate in 1998 was $1.60 Ca. to get 1 US$😝 CNG sent the coins a week later/ nothing arrived/ my coins MIA. To this day its the ONLY shipment that was stolen. Well sending a reg. letter marked gold coin/ value 12K does not help. The insurance Lloyds of London told CNG that the paper trail ended at Canada customs/ smell a rat there. I did not bid on anything today/ maybe tomorrow. However I am tapped out so not much left in the tank until I can go back to work to generate more funds. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambr0zie Posted January 10 · Member Share Posted January 10 (edited) Excellent subject, @kirispupis Like all of us, on many occasions I lost coins that were very important for me. Either too expensive, or I was undecided and I soon realized I lost the main target I was in that auction for. In 2023 I did not follow the habit to buy anything. Sure, I inspect the remaining coins in the auction to see if there are coins that suit my tastes and wallet but I tried not to buy coins just because I'm looking at a live auction. Some coins that were not main targets, but I like them and they were bought because I did not manage to win my primary coins. All of them are good additions. Edited January 10 by ambr0zie 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limes Posted January 10 · Supporter Share Posted January 10 That's too bad. What coin were you after, if you dont mind me asking. Is it a coin that only appears on venues like triton, or perhaps on a 'lesser' e-sale too? I can imagine Triton attracts a lot of collectors with very deep pockets, especially if its in January at the NY venue (that's the one you are talking about, right?) Another question completely; what does consolidation in this context mean? I tried translate and google, but only end up with 'making your business stronger' and similar meanings. It's meant that something is to give you some comfort, right? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted January 10 · Supporter Share Posted January 10 7 minutes ago, Limes said: That's too bad. What coin were you after, if you dont mind me asking. Is it a coin that only appears on venues like triton, or perhaps on a 'lesser' e-sale too? I can imagine Triton attracts a lot of collectors with very deep pockets, especially if its in January at the NY venue (that's the one you are talking about, right?) Another question completely; what does consolidation in this context mean? I tried translate and google, but only end up with 'making your business stronger' and similar meanings. It's meant that something is to give you some comfort, right? 'Consolation', not 'consolidation'. 😉 You're correct on the meaning - sympathetic comfort, encouragement, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limes Posted January 10 · Supporter Share Posted January 10 1 minute ago, CPK said: 'Consolation', not 'consolidation'. 😉 You're correct on the meaning - sympathetic comfort, encouragement, etc. Ah, I see where I got it wrong (seems I get a bit dyslexic when it comes to a second language) 😂 In that case, does 'the second coin on your watchlist' count as a consolation coin? I mean, there are always several targets to go after during an auction. I start with my favorite, go all in, and when I don't win it, I go for the next. Trouble is though, that the order in which the coins come up isn't always helping... Next to that, I have a retail watchlist. So there's always something to go for. I however never buy a coin at random so to say, if I failed at an auction. Like you @kirispupis, I have a retail watchlist and if auctions don't bring me succes and I dont want to save my budget for another auction, I buy a coin in retail. For example, here's a "consolation coin", which I got as 'second on my watchlist'. It's in my top 10 of 2023. My budget was insufficient for this one (sold for 1900 CHF): A random retail coin from my collection. Bought because it was on my watchlist and the type is really cool and rare. It sure brings me consolation 😁 I went through my files, and the only two premier auctions I participated in, were a Kunker sale and a NAC spring sale hosted via biddr (I'm not sure the last one counts as a 'premier auction'). I never participated in premier sales hosted by CNG, Roma, Leu, or whatever. Only esales or 'sales' of the less big auction houses (and mainly based in West Europe). I went for one coin in the Kunker sale, and I won it to my surprise. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor kirispupis Posted January 10 · Benefactor Author Benefactor Share Posted January 10 2 hours ago, Limes said: That's too bad. What coin were you after, if you dont mind me asking. Is it a coin that only appears on venues like triton, or perhaps on a 'lesser' e-sale too? I can imagine Triton attracts a lot of collectors with very deep pockets, especially if its in January at the NY venue (that's the one you are talking about, right?) Both coins have appeared at lesser auctions, though also in poorer quality. They actually both appeared in other auctions last year, and I so this was my second loss on both. Since I was completely shut out of the auction, and I was depressed since I'd really wanted one of the coins, I decided to console myself by purchasing several other coins from one of my favorite sellers. As I mentioned, I've never won at these auctions. Sure, had I gone from one of the Tigranes II tets or some other common coin, I probably would have won. However, all of my targets are rarities and when you get into that market there are buyers who don't care whether they spend $200 or $20k. My only chance of procuring the coin in this case is for them to not notice it. In an auction like Triton that doesn't happen, but my hope is they show up in Savoca later this year. 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor Ancient Coin Hunter Posted January 10 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted January 10 (edited) If I miss out on a desired coin at auction I usually turned to the fix priced lists at Vcoins and M-A shops to see if I can get a coin almost as good for (usually) a higher price. Sometimes there are a few deals out there. My avatar coin came from a Polish collector selling his entire collection of Probus coins (139 in total as I recall) so I was able to find a cool coin for a fair price, and not one that is usually encountered, at least not so much. Edited January 10 by Ancient Coin Hunter 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.