Is Dave Bowers a shell of his former self?

OchoReales

I say this because he is connected with such a second rate auction house, Stacks. How could a man with such a sterling reputation in the numismatic field sit by for so long whlie they continue to lag behind Heritage, Goldbergs and even his former co., Bowers and Merena (who, I might say, are not that high on my list).Your opinions are welcomed!

Silvereagle82

Gary,
I too don't understand why Stacks isn't one of the premier auction houses in the world. They have the name recognition, I assume the contacts, the location - New York City, and world class staff members like Dave Bowers but they just don't appear to be going in that direction.

harasha

My experience with Stack's has been mediocre at best. Grossly overstated conditions and packaging so poor that it has damaged winnings. Stack's does not really care about its World Numismatic offereings, as far as I am concerned.

JCMhouston

They are very old school for sure, it is a shame some of the great old auction houses/dealers haven't stayed up with the times.

WWW

The old guard could care less about the Interweb and it shows.

OchoReales

It's a real shame because this man IS a numismatic icon and Stack's is also. It doesn't make any sense to me.

Zohar

I agree. I just won an auction (I think) as no one informed me and the realized price is not easily retrieved. Their online bidding platform is poor.
Its a shame.

farthing

Zohar - not that hard to determine. Select My Watch List then select the Coin Galleries auction. The screen will show all the items you were watching/bidding on and the price the item sold for (with the 15% commission). At the bottom is the total you owe.

If you won any lots I would expect an email from them tomorrow.

pruebas

I'm not sure what you guys are whining about.

Ocho, QDB has nothing to do with the day-to-day operations of Stacks. He is simply a figurehead which is exactly what he and they want. (Harvey Stack was also a figurehead too, before he "retired".) He gets to spend all his time doing research, writing books, helping catalog the auctions, and generally "whatever". We are all better for him and his work. But he has stated that he was "retired" from active coin dealing. (I remember QDB saying that when ANR first started up.)

As for day-to-day at Stacks, the ANR folks took over, threw out all the Stack family (with their marvelous reference library, I might add), and is essentially running the place from New Hampshire. The head honchos at ANR aka Stacks (and formerly on staff at B&M) were never a customer friendly bunch. They are in it for the money. They are businesspeople.

Have you ever called Stacks? The number rings in New Hampshire. Have you ever asked to see some lots outside of official viewing hours? The coins are in New Hampshire. The payments go to New Hampshire. The coins are sent from New Hampshire. I'm not saying that is bad, but it tells you something.

Sure the Stacks website is not up to par with Heritage, but neither is any other auction house in the world. Heritage has its flaws too though. And I disagree that the Bowers & Merena or the Goldberg websites are any good either.

Harasha, I have received many a poorly packaged box from Heritage and many well packed ones from the other firms, including Stacks. One time, I bought a die with 3 trial strikings made from that die in a Heritage auction. The lot arrived with the trials having fallen out of their unsealed flips banging around in the box with the die--clearly packed by an idiot. I have received many damaged slabs from Heritage and none from the other firms. Damaged after my having viewed them (i.e. from banging around in the boxes as they are shipped back to Dallas).

Zohar, I was e-mailed my Stacks invoice this evening, 24 hours after the close of the auction. Heritage has not e-mailed me a notification that my invoice from CICF is on their website (but it is). That auction was 4 days ago.

OchoReales

Still, to have your name associated with such a cut rate organization as Stacks is embarassing, to say the least. In this world, we are judged by the company we keep. Why have your name attached to this group when they are so missing the mark? As far as Heritage goes, I'm not saying they are perfect (no one is), but I have yet to have a real issue with them. I can see which lots I win, immediately (on the website). As far as an internet generated invoice goes, just look at the size of the auction. Dan Sedwick is new to the auction game and HE does a better job than Stack's does. Dave Bowers should look to put his name elsewhere and go out on top, NOT the bottom. Just sayin'.

7Jaguars

Ocho, wow, those are some sour grapes...Well, can't say I do not agree in principal with what you are saying. I think of some of the old icon numismatists (and I can only mention Ray Ford) are/were not all that wonderful, and that is putting it mildly.

OchoReales

Not at all Eric. You're taking my OP the wrong way. Dave Bowers IS a numismatic icon. Stacks IS cut rate. How do the two reconcile? That's my point. I have no personal grudge with Stacks. To me, it is inconceivable that QDB has his name associated with this group, as opposed to some other.

7Jaguars

Well, one does judge people by the company they keep. I think that it does tarnish images to associate with ilk of not the right sort...D. Bowers has published many books and knows quite a bit about numismatics, most definately.

MrEureka

How could a man with such a sterling reputation in the numismatic field sit by for so long whlie they continue to lag...?

Gary - I don't have all the details necessary to judge the situation. If I had to guess, I'd say that QDB is under contract to "serve as a figurehead" and to write books, so there's no option to jump ship. (Not that he necessarily would or should.) I'd also guess that he has little interest in taking charge of the day to day operations of the firm, or the rebuilding of it. It's simply not what he chooses to do at this stage of his career. And I don't think we can fault him for that in the least.

OchoReales

That's all well and good Andy, but it certainly doesn't serve him well to end his illustrious career with this particular group. It's a shame!