A blast from the past. Teletrade Auction
Vetter
Posts: 854 ✭✭✭✭✭
I was going through some old files and found this invoice from Teletrade Auctions from 1997. This was the 1st 1914/3 Buffalo Nickel sold at auction. There was even a write up in Coin World about it.
How many remember Teletrade and the coins from them. It was a fun time.
Members I have done business with:
Silverman68, jfoot13, GAB, ricman, Smittys, scrapman1077, RyGuy, Connecticoin, Meltdown, VikingDude, Peaceman, Patches and more.
Silverman68, jfoot13, GAB, ricman, Smittys, scrapman1077, RyGuy, Connecticoin, Meltdown, VikingDude, Peaceman, Patches and more.
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Comments
I definitely remember Teletrade. I may even have some of their old VHS tapes of their auction lots somewhere in the basement. If I do, those would be fun to watch again.
Your hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need it.
The good old days placing bids over the telephone. Man, this memory makes me feel sooooo old. They actually auctioned off a bit of my stuff shortly before they closed. I didn’t know they were shutting down until after the sale. I was scared I wouldn’t get paid. Sure enough the check arrived right on time.
Having fun while switching things up and focusing on a next level PCGS slabbed 1950+ type set, while still looking for great examples for the 7070.
I miss teletrade 😔
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I have mixed feelings on Teletrade, bought many coins but some were not all that great, I still have some with those old Teletrade stickers on them.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Agree. Many times, Teletrade was used as a dumping ground for dealer inventory that couldn't be sold on a sight seen basis.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Great company, you'd get their auction mailers. Very customer friendly.
Don't you touch those stickers! We have a cautionary thread on the subject with a gazillion replies 😆
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Lol. But half a gazillion of the replies have nothing to do with stickers.
They were fun and ahead of their time IMO but didn’t evolve. Shame.
I still remember winning a few amazing bust halves from Teletrade back in the day. My favorite coin to this day came from them.
Dave
Nice flash from the past. Bought a lot of nice stuff from Teletrade in the day.
Bought many coins off of Teletrade. Most were moderate buys, one stands out. There was a coin i really wanted and my wife wouldn’t have been happy with me bidding on. (She: I don’t care if the hair is accented or not, it’s only worth $.50)
I told her my car needed gas and I waited until 9:50p to go to the gas station. I called the number from the pumps and made sure I won the lot. I don’t remember how I handled the rest but this one stood out. I think the auctions were once or twice a week?
Loved Teletrade!
As I recall auctions ended on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday night. At least that’s my recollection. Action all week long! I picked up at least 15 VF Barber quarters there, which helped complete my set … even some of the tougher semi-keys.
Dave
Teletrade was fun; I cherried a handful of Washie quarter varieties from them.
Dave, I didn't realize that you have been a "You Suck" member for so long!!
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
I bought most of the PL and DMPL Morgans that I had through teletrade and submitted several coins to them at the 2009 Baltimore ANA convention. Met so many members there that have since passed, heartbreaking, but so glad I met them. I loved Teletrade and truly miss them. After buying half dozen or so each of the PL & DMPL Morgans, prices when drastically up very quickly and soon became out of my comfortability zone and I sold for good profits, but never bought any more.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
I remember Teletrade.
I have one coin from them and it's still in the same old blue PCGS holder.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I remember winning some contest they had. $50 which I never did use.
But I can’t remember the question that I answered correctly.
Hence the name "Tele-trash" that was used near the end.
Wasn't Teletrade bought by SB or maybe it was Spectrum. ???
jom
I loved Teletrade. Even though it was sight unseen, I found their written descriptions honest. I bought many coins back then for my Type Set and U.S. Proof Set 1936 - 1942. Their descriptions regarding Strike, Luster, and Toning were extremely helpful and right on point. I was never disappointed, except for my next point:
Yes, I believe it was Spectrum who bought them out, and then SB. But NOTHING ever happened with it!!!! To me, since nothing was done with continuing it, it was just shut down, so it seemed like it was bought out purely to stifle competition!
So far it hasn’t been mentioned in comments above mine, but I recall this is where Ian Russell and Raeleen Endo of GC got their “start”.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Absolutely. I had very few issues.
If I recall, towards the end they did have a website didn’t they? I coulda swore….
Having fun while switching things up and focusing on a next level PCGS slabbed 1950+ type set, while still looking for great examples for the 7070.
Yes. Teletrade had a website with pictures for several years before it got bought out. I purchased many fine coins from them. Broke my heart when they ended but fortunately Great Collections eventually filled the void and then some. james
I loved Teletrade. Newsprint catalogs in COIN (?) magazine. Two-line written descriptions. Touchtone phone bidding. Brad Johnson. Trivia giveaways. Early Internet "high resolution" images. That little cardboard box arriving in the mail (I still have a couple). Fond memories. I do recall in their final year(s) the bidding system was squirrely and not entirely trustworthy (from my seat).
I'm a bit embarrassed to say I still have EVERY Teletrade receipt. I even kept a few images. I do think GC has done a nice job of becoming the modern-day version of TT.
A fond blast from the past indeed ...
If we were all the same, the world would be an incredibly boring place.
Tommy
I was a big buyer (and occasional consignor) at Teletrade, especially in the Bernard Rome days in Kingston, NY. They made the market in sight-unseen certified coins at just the right time.
Was a little apprehensive, but Irma and Ian really made it work and brought it to the Internet when that sports card company bought it and moved it to Irvine. Bowers and Merena bought it and went nowhere with it. I really would love to get the lot images and descriptions for at least the silver dollars, as I recorded thousands of sales.
As for missing them? Ian's Great Collections is the evolution of what that was. He still keeps commissions reasonable and runs a good auction. Not sure why prices realized don't get incorporated into Coinfacts (while Goldberg's are). Puzzling.
Great Collections won't give permission to include them. They have stated on here in the past that it was done believing it would drive more people to sign up directly with them rather than making available on CoinFacts. Not sure if it really works out that way or not.
They do miss out on some publicity as in the case of a recently sold 1841 quarter eagle in PCGS MS-60. When the same coin was sold recently at Stacks Bowers March 2024 auction at $288,000 it was announced as a new world record for the non-proof issue on the livestream even though it had brought over $40,000 more in Sept 2022 at GC.
The record prices on CoinFacts can only show what the non-GC auction record is and GC gets forgotten about. Noticed GC is not in the auction provenance for that coin and others, so they lose some publicity that way also.
There are some older GC auctions that occasionally show up. Looks like 2011 through the end of 2014.
Here is a link of the GC auctions that are allowed to be included:
https://pcgs.com/auctionprices/auctionsalessummary/great-collections/firmid/12
"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
Great Times
With TTR honed my skills on bidding in last couple of seconds. So get them around bid or lower, flip at next show $$$. Fun.
I came late to the game but I bought a beautiful toned 1878 S Morgan VAM 36B Dragon Scales with the typical poor washed out photos. I saw something there and was right and the coin was better than I expected in hand.
I believe that I have a 50-cent sample, courtesy of Teletrade hiding somewhere.
I had Excellent Experiences with Teletrade - My point of contact there was Irma Kane and
I was always treated by her with great respect and outstanding service. I believe she
moved to NGC after the Teletrade incorporation into SB. I actually enjoyed purchasing
from them precisely for the reasons that they were criticized by others. They catered
very well to small collectors with limited budgets - aka Yours Truly ! I found several
coins within their auctions which were excellent buys - I just wanted copies for sets. It
was sad to see them leave the business - WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING SIMILAR
START UP AGAIN - HINT ! - HINT !
That Ian guy gets around.
Loved Teletrade. That creepy, robotic voice, the paper catalogs you'd receive in the mail that let you highlight and research you're prospective purchases, hearing "Con-grat-u-lations" at the end of the auction from same creepy robot voice. Good Times.
https://www.ebay.com/mys/active
I returned one because in hand it looked nothing like the pics. They just put it back up with the same pics. Also a LOT of potted plants [officially incremental bids] were bidders there.
They also ended a 9:01 pm my time and not 9:00 pm giving you an extra 59 seconds to outbid someone.
I only bought a few coins from them over the years, generally I remember being happy with my purchases. The thing I loved about their web site was the searchable results, for a long time that was the most reliable real world price guide for cherrypickers' varieties. They sold a ton of ANACS soapbox coins and were great about listing the full attributions in their auction descriptions.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
@seanq. Yes, I think I won more small ANAC holder coins than all the PCGS/NGC combined by 2X. james
I also bought many coins from them as well. In fact, they were the ones that originally auctioned the toned Binion Morgan’s back in 2002 when they first came out. I loved the ones I bought. I have 3 up for sale in the 15 April auction at Heritage. I’m enclosing a couple photos here. The 1st photo is the obverse of the 1883-CC in NGC MS 64*. The second photo is the rev of the 83 cc. The next photo is the obverse of the 1883 MS 63* Binion, the next photo is the 1887 Morgan in NGC MS 66*, the last photo is the 1883 MS 63* Binion. With less than 2 weeks to go, I think they are very reasonably/cheaply priced. But that’s my opinion because I sent out to sell. I should have resubmitted the 1887 because I think it would upgrade to a 67.
Actually, this was the time I first got into coin collecting.
1998 or so!
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.News on the founder of Teletrade - Passing of Mr. Rome
https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/bernard-rome-founder-of-teletrade-passes-at-89