When is it Wise to Sell a Collection without Reserve?

IGWT

I just received my catalogue for the Superior Santa Clara Elite Auction, Nov. 16-17, which features the Nevada Collection. The collection is broad and appears to contain many nice examples (check out some of the C & D gold). The coins in this collection will be sold without reserve. The consignor clearly has faith in both Superior and his coins. But other collections are just as nice and other auction houses just as effective in maximizing sales.

What factors -- from the coins themselves to the conditions of the market -- make it a smart financial decision for a consignor and auction house to offer a collection without reserve?

roadrunner

The individual lots may not have reserves. But I would expect the seller to have a minimum reserve on the total collection. It may only be 60-80% of the expected wholesale value, but is something.
Wasn't Eliasberg sold in a similar manner?

roadrunner

IGWT

I don't see how the entire collection could be reserved if all the coins are offered as individual lots (and, in this auction, coins from the Nevada Collection are interspersed with other coins).

morgannut2

Reserve or not, I wondered why so many of the "Nevada" coins were NGC (and yes,I only buy NGC after a closeup look--no agents). And I wondered not only how they toned, but who owned them, and where they were stored (not counting the Binion stuff)? Then I said the heck with it--there are other sales.

roadrunner

The auction house could guarantee X dollars based on their wholesale estimate of the collection. I though QDB did something like that when it came to auction Eliasberg. Didn't they guarantee X million or something? Or am I getting that mixed up with another major collection?

roadrunner

IGWT

Maybe; but if Superior guaranteed a minimum total price here, it's accepting the risk of no reserves. So, the initial question remains as it pertains to the auction house.