who wins?

recently there has been a number of auctions that had collections that had been off the market for years and arguably coins that were undergraded. Some of those coins I had interest in some but the prices were too strong. My question---do the majority of those coins going for big numbers (well in excess of price guides) go to collectors or crack out specialists?
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The question may be answered if the coins resurface soon in auctions, in new slabs.
And sometimes the photos from new slabbings show up on PCGS CoinFacts, before they appear in an auction.
For example, some of the seated half dimes from the Gardner and Newman sales have reappeared in more recent auctions;
sometimes in the same slabs and sometimes in new ones.
Often the Gardner prices were a local high water mark and the same coins have sold for less after that.
Example half dimes from the Gardner collection (often finest known for their respective die marriages):
1860 V-3 PR-67, cracked out 2 times, lost CAC:
$5170 2015-5 Heritage NGC 173689-002 CAC Gardner sale
$2585 2015-8 Stack’s Bowers PCGS 25686962
$2520 2018-3 Heritage PCGS 32831611
1843 V-2a MS-67, not cracked out:
$3819 2014-6 Heritage NGC 3270142-002 Gardner sale
$3525 2015-8 Stack’s Bowers NGC 3270142-002
1843 V-9u MS-66, cracked out:
$1645 2015-10 Heritage PCGS 2846738 Gardner sale
$1410 2016-6 Heritage PCGS 33328499
1849 V-3, cracked out and upgraded:
$5405 2015-10 Heritage NGC MS-67 116430-003 Gardner sale
passed 2016-11 Stack’s Bowers NGC MS-67+ 3814663-001
However, the majority of half dimes for the above dates from the Gardner sale have not reappeared in auctions.
The Dutch
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
That is a good question that likely cannot, and will not, receive a factual answer. No doubt it happens both ways... It is anyone's guess if one or the other is most common. Cheers, RickO
The highest bidder.
On a serious note, it probably varies. If there is a huge spread between the plastic grade and the next higher grade, the odds of a crack out artist pursuing it are much higher.
the grading services and auction houses almost always win
My op came about because the last couple coins i lost at auction went for crazy money and I learned both were going to be cracked out. Got me to thinking about whether coins that go for crazy money are going to collectors or a new slab. Silly me---i would have just kept them in the same slab if I had won at the inflated prices!
Just a question. Are the coins that you bid on and lost tough to find,if so how long have you been searching for them?
Links? If discussing specific coins, we might be able to give more useful comments. As for any hypothetical, generic coin we can guess but don't have much to go on.