Do auction firms ever consult with specialists to determine the sale timing of a large, specialized

Longacre

I am almost done with QDB's Virgil Brand book. Not to ruin the story for everyone, but Brand dies at the end. As a result, there are discussions as to what to do with his 400,000+ coin collection. The book includes correspondence from various dealers and auction firms, vying to be the ones to either purchase the collection outright, or auction the coins. In each letter from the auction firms (such as B. Max Mehl), they indicate that the auctions would be done in stages, so as "not to break the market".

In today's world, there are probably no collections that approach the size of Brand's. However, there are lots of collections that are very specialized and could very well affect the markets. Does anyone know if auction firms ever consult with specialist dealers to determine the best timing for bringing a specialized collection to market, or whether to auction it off in pieces? For example, suppose the Green Pond collection was 5 times as large. Would Heritage make a call to Doug Winter, for example, and discuss whether the auction should be done in stages, or whether it should be given its own super-sized, double platinum, special signature sale catalog all at once? Or do the auciton houses have this type of market expertise in house and don't need to talk to any specialist dealers?

dbldie55

I thought the Ford collection was sold in "today's world"

numisma

Do auction firms ever consult with specialists to determine the sale timing of a large, specialized collection?

The large auction firms, in most cases, are the specialists in the rare coin market. The field specialists (Winters, Grellman, Peterson, etc.) are specialists with regard to the coins. Heritage would have much more experience with the marketing/sales side of things.

RYK

Damn you, Longacre, for spoiling the ending.

Actually, there indeed WAS a timing issue related to the Green Pond sale. At the same time, the North Shore Collection of rare date gold was coming to the market at the same Heritage FUN sale. It included a complete set of high-end Dahlonega and Charlotte $5's, as well as many other rare date gold pieces assembled by the infamous Northeastern Collector™ and was slated to be auctioned on the same inaugural Platinum Night was the Green Pond collection. The owner of Green Pond, DW, and Heritage had to scramble and separate the North Shore Dahlonega $5's and move them to the next Heritage Signature sale at the January Long Beach show so that the North Shore Dahlonega $5's would not compete with those from Green Pond.

Aegis3

<< <i>I thought the Ford collection was sold in "today's world" >>



If Heritage was selling the Ford collection and started at the same time (Oct 2003), when would the auctions have been completed?

ABC123

Correct !

RichieURich

<< <i>

<< <i>I thought the Ford collection was sold in "today's world" >>



If Heritage was selling the Ford collection and started at the same time (Oct 2003), when would the auctions have been completed? >>



In 5 days, just like the Reiver sale.