Best Auction House for Ancients?

Branchmint · April 21, 2014 11:34PM

I will be hauling a couple of boxes of NGC-slabbed Ancients to the CSNS show later this week to consign. Most of the coins are in the few to several hundred dollar range. I haven't decided whether to go with Heritage, Stack's, or Goldberg. I know that every auction is different, but does anybody out there have any opinion on which house typically gets the strongest results for these types of coins? Thanks !

EVillageProwler · April 21, 2014 11:46PM

Heritage is the best of the three for the slabbed market in general, but I cannot comment on ancients specifically. At your price range, HA and SB will both put your consignment in their non-floor weekly sessions and offer you "typical" terms (whatever that means for this specific type and level of consignment).

You may want to consider an established eBay dealer who handles this stuff. I deal regularly with 'gmarguli' (aka Twelve Caesars Numis.) on eBay. Try reaching out to him to see which will be more suitable for you exact situation. He is a forum member on the NGC site as 'gmarguli' if you want to avoid the eBay messaging service. His email is ebay@twelve-caesars.com.

It's been my experience that the small guys will be less impersonal to small/modest consignors.

EVP

Branchmint · April 22, 2014 12:28AM

Thanks very much for the information and advice. I've seen some of gmarguli's auctions. He does a fine job and takes good photos. Thanks again !

Tibor · April 22, 2014 6:16AM

I don't collect ancients but I do collect Medieval coins. My experience
is that Classical Numismatic Group does an excellent job. I have
bought several coins for my collection and CNG is dead on the mark
with descriptions. They seem to get a little bit more for foreign coins.
If the dollar value is rather large (total consignment) then Heritage may go with a floor
session rather than internet. My first choice would be CNG.