any estate auction advise you can give me?

1957joe

I plan on going to an estate auction over the weekend that features several coins. What should I look out for besides the usuals? ie fakesand overbidding ect?

1946Hamm

Look at the lots you're interested in before the auction starts. Write down lot numbers you like and assign what your willing to pay as a reference to yourself. Check for cleaned and messed with coins. Watch the other bidders when you are bidding to see if they are running you up or are interested in the coin. Takes some experience to do this but you'll learn.

Have fun.

fivecents

Bring a good price guide and a grading guide. Beware of overpriced and over graded coins.

1957joe

How can you tell if the other bidders are trying to run up the price?

sinin1

look at all the coins - if it is in a 2x2 and says the year/date/grade and the grade says something like EF40 - make sure you agree with the grade before deciding on what you will pay - I bought some barbers once and the 2x2s said VF20, when I got home and looked closer, they turned out to be G4 with nice tone


know the selling order - what sells when


do not run out of money early - the best deals are frequently in the last third of the auction



depending on how much time is available for preview - see the coins you have an interest in



some estate auctions or not just 1 person, but a collection of stuff the auctioneer has from the last few months - be careful of these for phantom bidders/buyers - if the winner is bidder 145, and you do not see the bidder, save your money and leave


if there is an auction listing and many coins listed are nor there - be careful/weary

when a sale with lots of stuff and not many coins - the casual buyers/collectors may bid many items to way above retail



Auctions are frequently a crapshoot - may get some very good stuff for good price, may come home empty handed and wasted day

JohnZ

when a sale with lots of stuff and not many coins - the casual buyers/collectors may bid many items to way above retail

I've seen this happen several times. I eventually dropped out. After all, if they want it that badly, they can have it.

1946Hamm

1957joe ; It's hard to know. Watch for one or two people bidding on every lot and as a coin is being auctioned, if the same bidder doesn't bid till late in the proceedings and jumps in as a new bidder, then you are probably being run up. Takes experience to know but you will catch on if you attend enough auctions. Just don't go over what you're price that you have set for that lot is.

Good luck

sinin1

some 'crooked' auctioneers are the phantom bidder themselves - they call bids from the back of the room

and kind of have themselves for their own reserve - they frequently want retail+ for some coins and a coins will be sold to different buyers who are not even there


these are the auctions that you should be wary of - the coins "sold" will reappear next time and be sold "again"


these type of auctions will be selling to different buyer numbers - must have a block of 50 bogus numbers to use to "save" their coins and get a good price

291fifth

Be very careful. Sometimes the coins are not really from the estate at all but are the auctioneer's property. Don't expect any bargains. Beware of counterfeit and altered coins.

1957joe

Thanks for all the replys. I will let you know how I did on Monday!
Joe

coppercoins

I have found that for the better part estate auctions are virtually worthless in this part of the country unless you are the seller. Nine times out of ten the items typically go for twice or more what they are worth. I once saw a pile of common circulated Morgans (mostly 1921) go for $25 each. Another time a 20 pocket page full of common circ walkers went for $225. A ripoff in anyone's book.

1957joe

<< <i>I have found that for the better part estate auctions are virtually worthless in this part of the country unless you are the seller. Nine times out of ten the items typically go for twice or more what they are worth. I once saw a pile of common circulated Morgans (mostly 1921) go for $25 each. Another time a 20 pocket page full of common circ walkers went for $225. A ripoff in anyone's book. >>

Text

1957joe

<< <i>

<< <i>I have found that for the better part estate auctions are virtually worthless in this part of the country unless you are the seller. Nine times out of ten the items typically go for twice or more what they are worth. I once saw a pile of common circulated Morgans (mostly 1921) go for $25 each. Another time a 20 pocket page full of common circ walkers went for $225. A ripoff in anyone's book. >>

Text >>

what part of the country is that?

abuell

If the company doing the estate auction knows anything about coins they would have taken anything good out before the auction. If they don't know anything about coins they would have taken the whole bunch to a local dealer who would have taken anything good out before the auction. Either way what is auctioned is the junk that will bring a whole heck of a lot more from room full of bargain hunting auction goers, each of which thinks that they have more knowledge about coins than anyone else in the house, than it would ever have brought by selling it to a dealer.

coppercoins

1957joe - Missouri. It's in my profile.

Veep

I've been to dozens of estate auctions and have concluded that they are a major waste of time. Here's why:

1) Coins are the common stuff that you'd see in most collections
2) Coins have been shined-up real good
3) Crooked auctioneers
4) Horrible or no lighting
5) Long wait to finally have people with more money than knowledge overbid

The auction scene can be fun to witness. Don't go expecting to buy anything. Go for the entertainment value (if you've got nothing better to do).

Veep

Oh, just thought of #6: Auctioneers without a clue as to value try to open bidding too high or too low
and it takes forever to gett he item sold.
#7: Auctioneers who sell 40 avg. circ. 1921 Morgan and Peace dollars one at a
time

roadrunner

I've been to a few estate auctions and everything said above is true....except for one time. In that sale even the auction house was not aware of the coin's true value. Nothing sold for a song but the buys were reasonable. I missed the sale. This was the same sale written up in Coin World 1-2 years ago. It included a small group of choice to gem 1853 halves that sold for $15-25K each. One of those is now a PCGS MS67 valued at over $65K. Several of the others graded MS66. Not all estate sales are phony and rigged.

roadrunner

sinin1

I agree that sometimes sales are very good - depends on many factors - publicity, auctioneer, quantity of material, and quantity/quality of buyers


I did well at an estate sale last year, but did not bring enough money


Bought a few hundred dollars worth of walking liberty halves at 90 cents apiece - there were 3 other buyers that knew what things were worth and all 3 of us did well, and around 40 others bought a bunch of junk for too much - wheat cents for 6 cents apiece???

The auctioneer is local and I told him I wished he had more like that - he told me that a representative from an estate just asked him about handling the collection of a lady who died who was married top a banker who died 35 years ago. When he died, they sold the bank (some small town in North Dakota) but were allowed to keep the collection in the vault. It seems the banker collected bags and rolls of new stuff every year in his 40 years as a banker - over 2 moving vans full of mint state coins - WOW


I do not know where this collection is at, but I would be really happy if it showed up at may local auction house.