Story time: First bid experience

LochNESS

What was your first auction/bid experience? If you can remember back to that time …

Nervous? Hesitant? Anxious? Did you win???

Perhaps you triple-checked your account to make sure the funds were there?
or arrived an hour early to prevent missing the hammer?
or, for you youngins, did you refresh the screen every five seconds even though the eBay countdown clock clearly had 17h24m remaining?

I think we seasoned bidders forget too often what it should feel like to bid. It becomes so commonplace that we sometimes aren't even conscious.

Plus it's fun to tell some tales. Photos if you got 'em

SYRACUSIAN

It's not an easy question, at least for some of us. I started collecting young, then left it to pursue other interests like most young men do. Then, at some point, I started being active again, more and more serious one step at a time. Today, looking at my collection, some coins I treasure come from trusted dealers, others come from the local coin club auctions, others come from ebay and quite a few are the result of trades or direct purchases from other collectors. (see images below, illustrating all provenances)

The internet changed the hobby a lot. When it wasn't around, astute collectors were aware of the venues in Europe and the US were rare items would be auctioned, and this was a big advantage over local collectors. Unfortunately for me, this was the time that numismatics were on hold. Anyway, I remember a particular day that I had an argument with a local dealer over a coin I had purchased the previous day, which not only he refused to take back, he even refused that it was the same coin. His son had taken me aside and apologized on his behalf, but there wasn't much he could do at the time.

The same afternoon, I attended an auction, and imagine my surprise when I saw said dealer being there, sweating and bidding on various lots. I sat behind him and outbid him on 5-6 lots, all nicely priced BU ones, most of which I still own today. He never knew what hit him , besides the fact that I never set foot in his shop again, until his son took over.












Here's one from a 2008 auction, that made me sweat a lot over the phone, to the member who helped me purchase it.