Three trade dollars from the Superior auction: When Estimated Prices Bite

shirohniichan

Three trade dollars sold within a $50 spread between them, but they didn't sell how I expected. Consider this-- the one with the scarcest one with the middle grade was least expensive, the second scarcest with the highest grade was second most expensive, and the least scarce of the three in the lowest grade was the most expensive.

WTF?

1875-S I/II PCGS AU-58, the most expensive of the three
What made this sell for the most? The old PCGS holder? Eye-appeal? While the type I/II is about 10 times scarcer than the common '75-S I/I, it's only AU. I don't see why this one got the high bid that it did.

1873-S raw MS-63, the second most expensive
What dragged the price down on this one? The fact that it wasn't in a slab? The ugly toning? Did the coin not merit the MS-63 grade? I think the 1873-S in MS is an under-rated coin. Whoever got this one got a real bargain. If NCS can "currate" the coin, the buyer should be able to make a decent profit off this one.

1875-CC I/II raw MS-60, the least expensive
Yes, this one has a bad strike on the reverse (the worst I've seen for this date) and the scarce I/II variety wasn't listed, but it still should have sold for more than the '75-S. The buyer got a decent deal on this coin, too.

Here are the auctioners estimates vs the hammer prices:

1875-S $550/ $300 to 350
1873-S $525/ $600 to 700
1875-CC $500/ $400 to $500

Only the '75-CC was close, and the price was more in line with the common '75-CC I/I than the I/II.

Who was right? Maybe there is no "right" in an auction, only a determination of what a buyer out of a certain number of collectors will pay at a certain point in time.

EVillageProwler

Shiro,

I don't recall my thoughts on the '73-S, but I do recall my thoughts on the other two specimens.

The '75-S T2 rev was a superb coin that had MS62 written all over it. And, I was the under-underbidder. I stopped for budgetary reasons, not because I felt the coin was being overpriced.

The '75-CC was a marginal coin even in spite of the weak strike. It had diminished luster, and wasn't really a BU coin. I think I was the underbidder for the coin, but I can't remember. Anyway, I wanted a T2 rev that was nicer. I can be patient. But, I mostly stopped for budgetary reasons.

EVP

shirohniichan

That's the problem with only going by scans-- you can't see what the coins really look like.

Since the coins were different from what I expected, the prices make more sense. Perhaps there weren't that many variety collectors there. The 75-CC I/II is a much, much tougher coin than the '75-S I/II. Even if the '75-S looked much better than the '75-CC, I'd still expect the '75-CC to sell for more. I wish I could have seen the '75-S I/II-- maybe it's one of those PQ coins like Wyn Carner sells. At $550 plus the juice it must have been a stunning coin for the grade.

The '73-S is still a puzzler, though. It would have had to have been overgraded or even uglier than the scan to justify the low price.

keithdagen

Shiroh,

The description of the 73-S mentioned "best to examine." Maybe that scared some off.

EVillageProwler

Shiro,

I remember the '73-S a bit more. I think the cataloged grade of MS63 is exceedingly generous. It probably deserves an MS61 grade, but maybe MS62 if I were somewhat charitable. It's a raw, unappealing coin with problems. How much do you think it's worth?

Also, I don't recall if I felt the toning was original or A/T...

BTW, about the '75-CC, I really wish I hadn't had the budgetary constraint!

EVP

keithdagen

EVP,

Are you there at the show?

EVillageProwler

Keith,

I am now at home. (I live in Manhattan.) Why?

EVP

keithdagen

I was curious since you said you were the underbidder on those coins. Shiroh and I had discussed the 75-S earlier today since we had both bid from E-Bay on the piece, and were surprised at the price realized live.

tradedollarnut

I was the consignor on the 75-S in the old holder AU58. The coin is obviously worth more out of that holder - it's an MS62 at least with a shot at MS63. I considered resubmitting, but decided just to put it in auction.

BTW - I bought that coin off of ebay for $296 last year!

keithdagen

Nice sell

I commented to Shiroh earlier that the piece had more eye appeal than most of the "common" Trade dollars that I have seen offered recently, especially in AU and low MS grades. Most have had ugly toning or been really beat up.

EVillageProwler

TDN,

You're a stinker. I would've offered you the net amount that you got w/o giving Superior the buyer's and seller's fees.



EVP

tradedollarnut

I actually offered it to a board member a few months back for less than the hammer price. He passed! See, a holder works both ways. I knew the coin was worth a minimum of MS61 money but he couldn't see past the label on the holder. Obviously several bidders could see what the coin was worth. Moral of the story - ignore the holder, evaluate the quality of the coin.

EVillageProwler

Yes, TDN, but you're still a stinker!

shirohniichan

There's a great example of a bargain missed because the holder through people off. Plastic dependency is a bad habit to have.