Show Us Your Hansen "Underbids" - He Won, You Lost!

brianc1959

Inspired by the recent "Hansen Cast-Off" and "Collection Value" threads. These are coins you really tried to win at auction, but it turned out to be impossible! - or at least you got a strong feeling it was impossible.

Here is mine - an 1839 Small Letters Capped Bust Half in PCGS VF25 that wound up selling for ~$85k in a Legend auction a couple of years ago. I was prepared to sell off a big chunk of my collection to get this and I put in a very respectable bid, but $85k was way beyond my expectation. And I had the distinct feeling that things could easily have gone into six figures, so I just had to let it pass. Sure enough, the coin later showed up in the Hansen registry sets, so I didn't feel too bad about being an underbidder. And in the spirit of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" I was able to win a reasonably nice details-graded example about a year later, so all's well that ends well.

PerryHall

Depending on the final price, sometimes the underbidder is the winner.

ricko

I cannot compete in Hansen level auctions... No longer even try... Cheers, RickO

TheMayor

Funny timing that you post this topic today. I was randomly going through my Heritage bidding history a couple of days ago and came across one instance.

I find it fun and nostalgic to revisit my old lost bids once in a while to see the coins that I used to covet (and some that I still do) and how my tastes have changed over time. My reactions run the gamut from "thank God I didn't win that" to "man, I could have hit 'bid' one more time". This one is somewhere in between - I still love the coin but I think I made a pretty good run at it.

FlyingAl

@keyman64 said:
Darn just missed it.

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You might have, once upon a time:
https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/552117/1938-S-Mercury-Dime-NGC-MS-67-226-152-133-FB-Toned

FlyingAl

@keyman64 said:

@FlyingAl said:

@keyman64 said:
Darn just missed it.

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You might have, once upon a time:

I have seen someone post that in the past. Pretty crazy!

And people say there’s nothing good in NGC slabs.

Nic

BillJones

This dog is too small to run with Hanson. I can only afford the scraps that might fall out of his dish.

HillbillyCollector

Luckily what I buy is too low of a grade to interest him!😂

JBatDavidLawrence

This thread gives me some PTSD…I’m thankful that there’s not a thread of “show us the coins you outbid DLH on”, because there would be a lot of sadness on some missed opportunities for myself there!