CoinArchives and ACSearch

Boosibri · January 13, 2021 12:30PM

Do you subscribe to one, both or neither? I have been on ACSearch but wonder about CoinArchives. The cost is much greater but seemingly the database may be more expansive. Any experience?

neildrobertson · January 13, 2021 12:45PM

I have ACSearch and it has been invaluable to me since I collect German coins. I personally feel like ACSearch is very expensive relative to how much I spend on coins. CoinArchives would be prohibitively expensive, even if it is good.

7Jaguars · January 13, 2021 1:46PM

Thanks for that bit.

Stella · January 13, 2021 1:50PM

I use Coin Archives often and find it very helpful.

Besides finding upcoming auction lots and researching prices from prior auctions, another nice feature is being able to search part or all of a legend to quickly identify coins that you are unfamiliar with.

Boosibri · January 13, 2021 2:01PM

@Stella said:
I use Coin Archives often and find it very helpful.

Besides finding upcoming auction lots and researching prices from prior auctions, another nice feature is being able to search part or all of a legend to quickly identify coins that you are unfamiliar with.

Do you pay the $600 annually?

bidask · January 13, 2021 2:04PM

@Boosibri said:

@Stella said:
I use Coin Archives often and find it very helpful.

Besides finding upcoming auction lots and researching prices from prior auctions, another nice feature is being able to search part or all of a legend to quickly identify coins that you are unfamiliar with.

Do you pay the $600 annually?

I use Coinarchives Pro and yes I pay them for the service .... for the coins you buy you should consider paying for their service as well

Boosibri · January 13, 2021 2:04PM

@bidask said:

@Boosibri said:

@Stella said:
I use Coin Archives often and find it very helpful.

Besides finding upcoming auction lots and researching prices from prior auctions, another nice feature is being able to search part or all of a legend to quickly identify coins that you are unfamiliar with.

Do you pay the $600 annually?

I use Coinarchives Pro and yes I pay them for the service .... for the coins you buy you should consider paying for their service as well

Debating it, I just dont know if it is materially different or better than acsearch for $80

Abuelo · January 13, 2021 2:51PM

I use the free ACS and I think is awfully expensive so do not pay. I enjoy doing the searches myself so no paying...

bidask · January 13, 2021 5:51PM

Brian call coinarchives and speak to the owner and get your questions answered

SmEagle1795 · January 13, 2021 7:49PM

I use and pay for both, in part for slightly different feature-sets and to support the developers.

CoinArchives offers more complex queries and is generally easier to handle for filtering/sorting. They had much broader coverage than ACSearch for a while but ACSearch has indeed caught up after some auction houses began to permit them to use their data. CoinArchives includes results from yet-to-close sales as well which can help when searching.
ACSearch has digitized some older catalogs which has been a nice feature, although the OCRing leaves a bit to be desired. Their "Image Search" tool does a decent job at finding die matches/similar coins. The ability to comment on coins is also a plus.

Boosibri · January 14, 2021 5:41AM

Thanks @SmEagle1795

7Jaguars · January 14, 2021 6:15AM

For the "average" collector (or of average means, that would be a "NO"). Congrats for those on higher budgets though!

Euclid · January 14, 2021 7:38AM

Can anyone clarify whether the paid version of either search actually shows you more auction results for the same query than the free version? For example older results, or ones from more firms.

neildrobertson · January 14, 2021 8:49AM

The paid version of ACSearch does seem to include older results, but it's a small fraction of the overall results. Perhaps the number of old catalogues will increase over time.

TwoKopeiki · January 15, 2021 10:15AM

Am i the only one using coinarchives / acsearch to identify auction house, sale and lot # and then look up the actual lot through sixbid's archive function to see prices realized?

bidask · January 15, 2021 10:48AM

@TwoKopeiki said:
Am i the only one using coinarchives / acsearch to identify auction house, sale and lot # and then look up the actual lot through sixbid's archive function to see prices realized?

your way ahead of me in your search....i have been meaning to ask you what is WAG ?

Boosibri · January 15, 2021 11:03AM

@bidask said:

@TwoKopeiki said:
Am i the only one using coinarchives / acsearch to identify auction house, sale and lot # and then look up the actual lot through sixbid's archive function to see prices realized?

your way ahead of me in your search....i have been meaning to ask you what is WAG ?

It is a German auction house which has very frequent auctions with some diamonds in the rough as 2K has found. but I wouldn't encourage you to look at their sales lest you bid on any lots I am interested in

bidask · January 15, 2021 11:43AM

@Boosibri said:

@bidask said:

@TwoKopeiki said:
Am i the only one using coinarchives / acsearch to identify auction house, sale and lot # and then look up the actual lot through sixbid's archive function to see prices realized?

your way ahead of me in your search....i have been meaning to ask you what is WAG ?

It is a German auction house which has very frequent auctions with some diamonds in the rough as 2K has found. but I wouldn't encourage you to look at their sales lest you bid on any lots I am interested in

ok thank you your both gentleman

neildrobertson · January 15, 2021 11:56AM

@TwoKopeiki said:
Am i the only one using coinarchives / acsearch to identify auction house, sale and lot # and then look up the actual lot through sixbid's archive function to see prices realized?

That's what I used to do, and it works for most things. I eventually ran into enough items I couldn't find elsewhere that I gave in and bought the sub.

Stella · January 15, 2021 5:10PM

@Boosibri said:

@Stella said:
I use Coin Archives often and find it very helpful.

Besides finding upcoming auction lots and researching prices from prior auctions, another nice feature is being able to search part or all of a legend to quickly identify coins that you are unfamiliar with.

Do you pay the $600 annually?

Well, I am lucky enough to have access through my work as a professional numismatist! So that helps.

amwldcoin · January 16, 2021 5:55AM

Hmmmm, WAG always meant "Wild ASS Guess" to me.

@Boosibri said:

@bidask said:

@TwoKopeiki said:
Am i the only one using coinarchives / acsearch to identify auction house, sale and lot # and then look up the actual lot through sixbid's archive function to see prices realized?

your way ahead of me in your search....i have been meaning to ask you what is WAG ?

It is a German auction house which has very frequent auctions with some diamonds in the rough as 2K has found. but I wouldn't encourage you to look at their sales lest you bid on any lots I am interested in

Boosibri · January 16, 2021 6:21AM

@amwldcoin said:
Hmmmm, WAG always meant "Wild ASS Guess" to me.

@Boosibri said:

@bidask said:

@TwoKopeiki said:
Am i the only one using coinarchives / acsearch to identify auction house, sale and lot # and then look up the actual lot through sixbid's archive function to see prices realized?

your way ahead of me in your search....i have been meaning to ask you what is WAG ?

It is a German auction house which has very frequent auctions with some diamonds in the rough as 2K has found. but I wouldn't encourage you to look at their sales lest you bid on any lots I am interested in

Kind of what you are doing when bidding blind in these WAG auctions

CoinArchives and ACSearch

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