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First auction win: Athenian Tetradrachm 440BC-404BC

MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭
edited May 12, 2021 10:59PM in World & Ancient Coins Forum

I’ve never won a coin via auction before.

But last week Heritage Auction had a huge lot of Ancient coins and I was hoping to pick up a Roman aureus.

Sadly I lost that auction :(

But I picked up this Athenian Tetradrachm for a decent price and it’s my first ever coin buy via auction :).


Comments

  • MasonGMasonG Posts: 6,261 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nice!

  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @MasonG said:
    Nice!

    Thanks! :)

  • MasonGMasonG Posts: 6,261 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Talk about your classic "ancients" design- it doesn't get much better than this. If I was submitting one of these for grading, I'd have them put the owl side up.

  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @MasonG said:
    Talk about your classic "ancients" design- it doesn't get much better than this. If I was submitting one of these for grading, I'd have them put the owl side up.

    I agree the design is a classic and beautiful design.

    The history is even more interesting in my opinion.

    440 - 404 BC is only a few decades after Leonidas & his 300 Spartans had their final stand.

    Shortly after that the Persians were driven out of Greece entirely and Democracy flourished.

    According to some reading I've done the silver for these coins was mined in Laurentium and was used to fund monumental projects like the Parthenon.

    It's fascinating to think about who may have had this coin in ancient times although it probably didn't circulate much considering it's MS condition.

  • Bob13Bob13 Posts: 1,507 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wasn't sure what to expect with thread title - but great coin. Looking for one of those myself. I agree that the history here is mind blowing.

    My current "Box of 20"

  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @Bob13 said:
    Wasn't sure what to expect with thread title - but great coin. Looking for one of those myself. I agree that the history here is mind blowing.

    Sorry about the confusing title I post it here because it’s an Ancient coin and my first ever coin obtained via auction so I wanted to mention that as well lol.

    I imagine anyone with an interest in history would be interested in a coin like that from so long ago and from the birthplace of democracy itself.

  • neildrobertsonneildrobertson Posts: 1,235 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That's a hell of a place to start. My first was probably some coin for 99 cents on eBay

    IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
    "Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me

  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @neildrobertson said:
    That's a hell of a place to start. My first was probably some coin for 99 cents on eBay

    Well I mean I’ve purchased coins in stores and online before. This is just the first coin I ever won at an auction.

    It would’ve been an amazing deal if HA didn’t add that 20% buyers premium. O_o

  • CucumborCucumbor Posts: 126 ✭✭✭
    edited May 13, 2021 1:57PM

    That's a terrific purchase. According to its quality it must have set you back quite big a amount

  • AuldFartteAuldFartte Posts: 4,597 ✭✭✭✭

    @MKUltra24 - That's a beauty. I bought one of them recently, not as nice as yours, but I love it. It's my favorite ancient. Here's mine. It's raw and from a dealer in Italy through the VCoins site.

    image

    My OmniCoin Collection
    My BankNoteBank Collection
    Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @Cucumbor said:
    That's a terrific purchase. According to its quality it must have set you back quite big a amount

    Thanks! ^_^

    Yeah it definitely wasn’t cheap.

    I won it with a $1,250 bid + $250 buyer’s premium so $1500 total.

    But I still feel it’s a good deal for what I got.

  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @AuldFartte said:
    @MKUltra24 - That's a beauty. I bought one of them recently, not as nice as yours, but I love it. It's my favorite ancient. Here's mine. It's raw and from a dealer in Italy through the VCoins site.

    Nice one! The one big problem with them is the centering.

    Like with yours it shows the full crest but the front of the face is missing.

    Whereas with mine i am missing the full crest.

    It’s hard to find one that has the full crest AND the rest of the details.

  • MasonGMasonG Posts: 6,261 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MKUltra24 said:
    I won it with a $1,250 bid + $250 buyer’s premium so $1500 total.

    But I still feel it’s a good deal for what I got.

    Based on what people are paying for them on eBay, that sounds like a good deal.

  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @MasonG said:

    @MKUltra24 said:
    I won it with a $1,250 bid + $250 buyer’s premium so $1500 total.

    But I still feel it’s a good deal for what I got.

    Based on what people are paying for them on eBay, that sounds like a good deal.

    If only that buyer's premium wasn't there it would've been a fantastic deal xD.

    But I'm still happy with my purchase and have no regrets.

    I think because the Athenian Tetradrachm is such a classic coin they will hold their value over time.

  • StellaStella Posts: 708 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Great way to start off! Congratulations on your purchase.

    I have two owl Tetradrachms and love them.

    Coin collector since childhood and New York Numismatist at Heritage Auctions.
  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @Stella said:
    Great way to start off! Congratulations on your purchase.

    I have two owl Tetradrachms and love them.

    Thanks! :)

    It’s just a shame Heritage Auctions is taking quite a while.

    That I don’t really understand since I paid by credit card and it posted to my account and I paid it off several days ago.

    But like I said it’s my first auction win so maybe that’s just how auctions work.

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,427 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Excellent pick up!

    My YouTube Channel

  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @asheland said:
    Excellent pick up!

    Thank you! ^_^

    I look forward to picking up some more when I save up enough.

  • StellaStella Posts: 708 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MKUltra24 said:

    @Stella said:
    Great way to start off! Congratulations on your purchase.

    I have two owl Tetradrachms and love them.

    Thanks! :)

    It’s just a shame Heritage Auctions is taking quite a while.

    That I don’t really understand since I paid by credit card and it posted to my account and I paid it off several days ago.

    But like I said it’s my first auction win so maybe that’s just how auctions work.

    If you would like to email me your contact details at sarahm@ha.com, I would be happy to look into this for you and report back.

    Coin collector since childhood and New York Numismatist at Heritage Auctions.
  • MKUltra24MKUltra24 Posts: 655 ✭✭✭✭

    @Stella said:

    @MKUltra24 said:

    @Stella said:
    Great way to start off! Congratulations on your purchase.

    I have two owl Tetradrachms and love them.

    Thanks! :)

    It’s just a shame Heritage Auctions is taking quite a while.

    That I don’t really understand since I paid by credit card and it posted to my account and I paid it off several days ago.

    But like I said it’s my first auction win so maybe that’s just how auctions work.

    If you would like to email me your contact details at sarahm@ha.com, I would be happy to look into this for you and report back.

    Thank you :) I will email you shortly.

    I appreciate your help!

  • StellaStella Posts: 708 ✭✭✭✭✭

    No problem, @MKUltra24 ! I'm on it.

    Coin collector since childhood and New York Numismatist at Heritage Auctions.
  • SwampboySwampboy Posts: 13,051 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Love the type and love your auction win too!
    Congrats 🍺

    "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso

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