Best Of

@GuzziSport said:
Just made my first purchase of ‘25… a true bucket list coin, a CAC’d chain cent…. Probably my only ‘25 purchase!

Can't wait to see photos!

For me it is best to set a happy price and let her go... there is always another coin.

It keeps everybody honest and I win often enough.

Almost discount shilling, but it keeps me out of bidding wars.

Most of the time I just bid my max first. I only try to snipe at the end if it’s a coin I really want.

My question is if you are outbid during a GC auction. Do you throw in a test bid to see if you are outbid by a larger amount just to see where you are? Or do you try to get back to being high bidder?

Most importantly do you just wait and throw in your best bid in the last 15-20 seconds. Or do some of you throw in your best bid somewhere in between to discourage others from bidding. My questions pertain to inexpensive coins under $500. Thanks for your insights

As one of the comments by someone else above pointed out, one of the problems of placing a very high max bid early on GC, is that yes, you might end up the high bidder, but because of all the time left, people will “eat away” at your lead, and you may then end up paying more than you otherwise would have paid. In this scenario, other people who don’t snipe and don’t bid nuclear for fear of being the high bidder at a crazy price, but place their “max” bids with a minute or two left on the clock, once they see their max bid was not good enough, they may then place a new “max” bid, and do that several times, getting “more bites at the apple”.

Here’s a real life example that took place on GC about four weeks ago. A friend of mine wanted/needed a certain very high grade coin. It turns out only he and one other bidder were serious at a high price level (at that level the bid increment was $500). In advance, I tried to convince my friend to snipe, but he was nervous doing so, so he placed his VERY high max bid with about 30 seconds left on the clock. That made him the current high bidder at $18,000 hammer. Ten seconds later (with only 20 seconds left), the other serious bidder placed his “max” bid at $20,000 hammer. But lo and behold, that bidder was shocked to see that my friend was still the high bidder, but now at $20,500. With 13 seconds still left, that other guy now had time to place yet another max bid, which he did at $22,000 hammer. But my friends very high max bid placed at 30 seconds was still higher, so my friends bid was still the high bidder, but now at $22,500 hammer, and then the auction ended. Had my friend only placed his initial max bid closer to the end, his competitor would not have had time to place his second “bite at the apple” of $22,000 hammer. My friends very high max bid would have ended up as the high bidder at $20,500 hammer, instead of his actual ending high max at $22,500. My friend ended up paying $2,000 (plus an extra $200 bp) more than he would have had to pay had he properly sniped!

Steve

@leothelyon said:
My dad stored a-many of proof and mint sets in a bank deposit box 1970's-80's. Many of those coins, mainly the coins in the proof sets had corroded, toned not in a nice way. We figured the bank's air condition system was adding humidity to the air during the winter months......also to cut down the static electricity.

Leo

I read that banks add humidity to the air in their vaults to prevent paper documents in SDB's from drying out. I guess putting coins in large zip-lock bags with one of those rechargeable metal desiccant canisters helps but you have to remember to change out the canisters periodically because they eventually become saturated with water and need to be baked in an oven to recharge them. Remember that slabs aren't totally airtight---when the barometric pressure rises, air will enter the slab and when the barometric pressure drops, air will exit the slab.

GC auctions often results in the highest prices in the world. Likewise, HA or Stacks often results in the highest prices in the world as well. There is no right or wrong answer here, because there are simply too many factors to consider that can alter the results. For example, bidder fatigue is a HUGE negative factor in the “soft” auction closes. I simply am too busy to wait around for many of these prolonged auctions resulting in “bidder drop off”. I simply put in a weaker bid than I otherwise do when “sniping” and if I win, I win. And, if I lose I lose. Alternately, with the “hard” closes, I have been known to put in a higher snipe bid and on occasion get “stuck overpaying” for a coin when someone else does the same. Not to even mention losing coins all together due to “technical” problems which can be a heartbreaking situation with sniping.

Conclusion: All of the auction companies are doing just fine with their approaches and we, as serious collectors or dealers, need to learn how to become most successful bidding under both formats (usually by trial and error).

Wondercoin.