BREAKING NEWS: GreatCollections Selected as Official Auctioneer of the ANA
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GreatCollections Selected as Official Auctioneer of the American Numismatic Association
The American Numismatic Association (ANA) has selected GreatCollections Coin Auctions (www.GreatCollections.com) of Irvine, California as the exclusive Official Auctioneer of the ANA. The new three-year contract is effective immediately.
“We are pleased to welcome GreatCollections as the official auction partner of the ANA,” stated Kim Kiick, executive director of the Association. “GreatCollections and its president, Ian Russell, are very supportive of the ANA and its efforts to attract positive attention and attendance at our two annual shows.” (GreatCollections displayed the world’s most valuable rare coin, the legendary 1933 Double Eagle, at the ANA World’s Fair of Money® last year.)
“The Association has been exploring options to change the auction format at our shows,” Kiick explained. “GreatCollections has become a well-known and respected entity in the hobby with its weekly auctions offering thousands of certified coins and paper money. The benefits of this new relationship will be a plus for the Association, collectors, dealers and our shows.”
“We are proud and honored to have this multi-year agreement with the ANA, during these exciting times in numismatics when interest in coins is at an all-time high. And we take this responsibility seriously,” explained Russell. “We founded our business for the collector, and despite our growth, we continue to offer over 1,000 certified coins valued at less than $100 each week in our auctions, alongside coins in all other budgets right up to $1 million-plus.”
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Comments
Wow that’s great for GC! Congratulations @ianrussell!
Coin Photographer.
Congrats Ian, Great auction house to do business with.
The best IMO
Cheers
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Super. Well deserved GC.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
You'll never do business with a more straightforward dealer.
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Now listen boy, I'm tryin' to teach you sumthin' . . . . that ain't no optical illusion, it only looks like an optical illusion.
My mind reader refuses to charge me....
Congratulations Ian and Rae!!!!
Change can be a good thing. It will be interesting to see if the format or presentations of the Auction changes.
Congratulations to Ian and staff
OMG ... My Mother was Right about Everything!
I wake up with a Good Attitude Every Day. Then … Idiots Happen!
I got the email as well. Was wondering if Live auctions are in the works (or are they even needed as long as you have "live" lot viewing).
I suspect historically, there were cases where people were competing against each other in person that could have had an impact on the outcome. However, I have heard that many of the auction winners during the live auctions in recent years still sit back and bid online so there is little in person bidding.
Good for Ian. Every experience I've had with both Great Collections and the ANA has been great
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This is fantastic news!
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Well done.
Congratulations Raeleen and Ian. Much deserved.
Congratulations to GreatCollections.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Congrats to GreatCollections!!!!!!!!!!!
really? NO stacks, NO heritage? no more catalogs?
Yeah, and no more 20% fees and a company that knows how to run an auction!
I'm loving it already
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Love it! Well deserved.
Dave
That does deserve a Wow!
And the good times continue to Roll for Ian and team!!! Congrats!!!
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Great news!
If Heritage and S-B will not be allowed to show their auctions at ANA, I would expect them to create a new auction venue. Something like the Apostrophe Auctions of 1979-90, the week before ANA. Not necessarily a bad thing, if you ask me.
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If Heritage and S-B will not be allowed to show their auctions at ANA, I would expect them to create a new auction venue. Something like the Apostrophe Auctions of 1979-90, the week before ANA. Not necessarily a bad thing, if you ask me.
Plenty of hotels right across the street.
Member ANA, SPMC, SCNA, FUN, CONECA
I’ve been around long enough to see the major auction houses raise their buyers’ fees from 10 to 20%. Perhaps this news will prod them to lower their fees.
Good things tend to happen to good people
Congrats Ian.
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Congrats to Great Collections.
Pretty big accomplishment.
My only concern is that there are occasions when it is more beneficial to the consignor to have an auction lot end when there are no higher bids, as opposed to an arbitrary set time. I’ve seen many times where two bidders slug it out (slowly) and I’m not sure the same dynamic can occur when a lot ends at, for example, 16:04:32.
I would like GreatCollections to consider a hybrid, such as all lots auctions are automatically extended by 2 minutes after the last bid, even if the last bid is only seconds prior to closing for that lot.
Not likely, but maybe it's the "changing of the guard"
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Very happy for Ian and Great Collections. Ian has always treated me well as a bidder and a consignor, going back to Teletrade days.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
Congratulations Great Collections !
Don't forget they also charge a seller's fee. Great Collections is the only reason why I continue to buy coins as I know the spread at worse will be 15% as opposed to 40%.
I had a very nice set of transactions with Andy at Great Collections, and I know that I can attribute a good portion of what I received for my consignment to his and Ian’s efforts. I can’t say enough good about them.
I am really pleased to hear this, couldn't have gone to a better organization. Top Knotch group, Ian and his staff are the best.
There's only 1 problem with that. I have participated in an auction set up that way. The next thing you know you've got 5 or 6 windows open and will miss some lots you want. Of course that's if they have a fixed closing time. If one lot starts after the next finishes it wouldn't be a problem and it might as well be done just like any other auction. There's something to be said for either method of finishing.
What does being the official auctioneer of the ANA mean? Are they also the official and/or exclusive auctioneer of the ANA conventions or is it more like NGC being the official grading service? Are they required to have a live auction with lot viewing or will it still be a fully online experience? What does the ANA or its membership get from this arrangement?
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Good questions.
We're open to having live auctions in the future, that being said, as we have seen in the past with show auctions, most of the bidding happens online anyway. We will definitely have expanded lot viewing at all ANA shows, and we have a few other ideas in the works that will benefit ANA members and the ANA.
More importantly, the ANA is able to have multiple auction companies holding auctions at each ANA. I feel this is the key to the show's future success, and it truly benefits the ANA and its members (despite other auctions being competitive to GC). Historically, other auctions could not be held at the ANA (or even lot viewing at the show). Our proposal included encouraging other auctions to take place and I hope the ANA is successful in having 5, 6, 7 firms etc. holding auctions.
Regards,
Owner/Founder GreatCollections
GreatCollections Coin Auctions - Certified Coin Auctions Every Week - Rare Coins & Coin Values
Awesome.
Good news indeed. Lot viewing in person is always best, however that isn’t always possible. I would like to see GC improve their photos or work with some combination of the best numismatic photographers.
Chance favors the prepared mind.
One can only hope.
This is welcome news as I believe GC eats Heritage's lunch in every way imaginable as a collector.........photos of lots, ease of use on the website, buyers and sellers fees, customer service, shipping charges, shipping times overall and especially when paying via e-check, etc, etc.
Your hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need it.
YES, I like the idea.
This way collectors can see the difference's between the different auctions companys, all there fee's and shipping chargers and the ease, (or lack of) of dealing with each of them.
This will only show that GC is by far the better company to do busuness with. Lower everything! Except service!
It MIGHT be a wake up call to all of them.
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Excellent points.
‘’This is welcome news as I believe GC eats Heritage's lunch in every way imaginable as a collector.........photos of lots, ease of use on the website, buyers and sellers fees, customer service, shipping charges, shipping times overall and especially when paying via e-check, etc, etc.”
Since MFeld was gracious enough to congratulate Ian right in this thread (and I would like to as well as Ian is doing a great job growing his relatively new auction company), I would like to share my honest assessment of the above comment after doing a substantial amount of business with both companies (as both a collector and a dealer):
Regarding photos - just a week or two ago, there was a thread (about a gold coin) stating just the opposite and even suggesting GC was not selling lots at high enough prices as a result of it. I chimed in (clearly in the minority there too) that I thought that notion was frankly wrong and disingenuous. So, suffice it to say GC is not “eating Heritage’s lunch” on photos (or lot descriptions).
Regarding use of the websites- both are fabulous. No complaints with either company. Heritage is “state of the art” and to suggest anyone is “eating Heritage’s lunch” regarding their website is utterly ridiculous.
Regarding buyer and seller fees- this is a tricky one. On $50 valued coins, GC excels (against most of the competition for that matter) with their 10% buyers’ premium. Heritage’s buyer’s fee is essentially 58% I believe ($29) in this example. And for $100 coins, we are looking at 10% (GC) vs. 29% buyers fee (Heritage). However, on consignments of coins that sell for over $300, as a seller I net more money with Heritage than I do with GC’s published sellers’ fee IF I am ok with selling the coins at Heritage at no reserve. And, I am comfortable due to Heritage’s incredible customer base. I have some other thoughts on the buyer and seller fees and would be happy to share them with both companies if either, or both, ever want to give me a call on that subject.
Customer service- both equally great. Ian and his team are great. At Heritage, M. Feld (and his team) is my chief customer service rep. Anyone out there have a complaint about Mark? Lol.
Shipping charges/times/ payment methods - I do believe GC is a tad cheaper on shipping fees. Regarding shipping times, my Heritage wins are often in my hands shipped from Dallas a matter of days after the auction (same for GC). Payment for auction bills couldn’t be easier at both companies. I paid my auction bill at Heritage yesterday via telephone and, start to finish, it took about 4 minutes. I think GC can get it done in 2-3 minutes when I drive over there!
Prices realized as a seller - a point that was left out. At Heritage, often incredible results. I haven’t sold enough “big time” material at GC to address an “apples to apples” comparison. But, Heritage is doing great at this all important point of, at the end of the day, how much money goes into my pocket as a seller on my larger consignments.
Conclusion - (2) excellent auction houses (and I’ll even give Stacks a shout out here as yet another great auction house with the likes of Wayne Berkeley personally handling my day to day activity).
Just my 2 cents.
Wondercoin
Awesome news to hear for Ian Russell and the crew!! I tend to agree that G.C is 1000 times better then heritage when it some to the layout of the website and payment options!! Heritage photos are often washed out I feel.
I think Wondercoin brought out a lot of good points. GC has excelled by carving out a niche despite the oversize presence of Heritage and Stacks Bowers. I think GC (as well as Legend Auctions) have excelled not so much by taking market share from Heritage and SB, but because auction firms as a whole are taking a significant share of business formerly occupied by retail dealers.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
I think Mitch hit it out of the park
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
<<< 5. Shipping charges/times/ payment methods - I do believe GC is a tad cheaper on shipping fees. Regarding shipping times, my Heritage wins are often in my hands shipped from Dallas a matter of days after the auction (same for GC). >>>
In my experiences, GC's shipping charges are not a 'tad' cheaper, they are a LOT cheaper based on the value of the shipment. As far as shipping times goes.....when I pay for a coin(s) via e-check at GC my lots are typically shipped the very next day. When I pay via e-check at Heritage I'm lucky if the lots are shipped within 2 - 2 1/2 weeks and I've written them dozens of checks over the past 20 yrs.
<<< 3. Regarding buyer and seller fees- this is a tricky one. On $50 valued coins, GC excels (against most of the competition for that matter) with their 10% buyers’ premium. Heritage’s buyer’s fee is essentially 58% I believe ($29) in this example. And for $100 coins, we are looking at 10% (GC) vs. 29% buyers fee (Heritage). However, on consignments of coins that sell for over $300, as a seller I net more money with Heritage than I do with GC’s published sellers’ fee IF I am ok with selling the coins at Heritage at no reserve. And, I am comfortable due to Heritage’s incredible customer base. >>>
Speaking of leaving points out, how much is the sellers fee for coins consigned to GC valued at at $1000.00 or more vs the same valued coins consigned to Heritage?? Also, the Heritage buyers fee is 20% ($29.00 min) while GC is at 10% with a $5.00 min. That doesn't sound all that tricky to me.
Your hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need it.
I think this is one of the worst things about how some auction houses conduct business, and I sincerely hope greatcollections never goes this route. David Lawrence uses this method and I refuse to bid or use them. When an auction has a specific time to end, end it. Don’t waste my time extending the auction because a last second bidder decided to finally show up. These auctions last for many days to weeks, and there’s plenty of time to bid.
The fixation on buyers premiums in purchasing a coin at this point is just willful ignorance.
Latin American Collection
Congratulations Ian and Raeleen! Well deserved. GreatCollections is the only auction house I use these days.
‘That doesn't sound all that tricky to me.”
Luxor. I told you, as a consignor, I get a net bigger payout (at the moment) on coins selling for over $300 at Heritage than I do at GC. Since you continue to think it is the other way around, you have essentially proven my point that it is “trickier” than meets the eye. Wondercoin
I am glad other auction houses will be allowed to continue their presence. The ANA wouldn’t be the ANA without world coins.
Gobrecht's Engraved Mature Head Large Cent Model
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