Have you bought a coin shortly after a Heritage auction for much less from a dealer?

liefgold · April 19, 2016 9:54AM

This just happened to me for the third time in the last couple years. A coin I wanted came up in the Heritage auction 18 months ago, and I got blown out of the water. My bid was $1900 and it sold for $3300. Last week I bought it from a dealer for his full ask price of $1500.
I have had similar experiences with two other coins.
Is this a common occurrence? Reasons?

TopographicOceans · April 19, 2016 9:57AM

I think most coins trade dealer to dealer for quite sometime before a collector buys it.

Probably that coin was part of a group of coins in a dealer to dealer trade and then the receiving dealer was able to sell it to you at a lower price.

TommyType · April 19, 2016 10:01AM

Originally posted by: TopographicOceans

I think most coins trade dealer to dealer for quite sometime before a collector buys it.

Probably that coin was part of a group of coins in a dealer to dealer trade and then the receiving dealer was able to sell it to you at a lower price.

Kind of a "re-distribution of value"?

Makes more sense than some poor sap taking a bath on it 18 months later....(though, they probably did?)

bigjpst · April 19, 2016 10:09AM

Or the coin never really sold at all.

mercurydimeguy · April 19, 2016 10:09AM

i posted about this happening to me from Heritage about a month ago... I was shocked to see the same coin in a dealer's inventory at less than it sold for on Heritage.

This is why I have all but eliminated buying coins from the big auction houses...for the choice material, on that day, you pay more than any other human being on Earth. That's not a good thing, unless you have money to burn

thisnamztaken · April 19, 2016 10:29AM

Auction fever combined with buyer's remorse = savings for end of the line buyer?

Gazes · April 19, 2016 11:19AM

I bought a coin at a heritage auction at the ANA almost a year ago. The coin was a semi key date in collector grade. I just recently asked a dealer if they were interested in it and they offered the price I paid within a few dollars. They said they could not pay more because that was their wholesale price. So in this instance, clearly I got a better deal at auction than I could get from a dealer.

coindeuce · April 19, 2016 11:48AM

Originally posted by: bigjpst

Or the coin never really sold at all.

This.

mozin · April 19, 2016 12:32PM

Originally posted by: coindeuce

Originally posted by: bigjpst
Or the coin never really sold at all.

This.

roadrunner · April 19, 2016 12:49PM

The market has changed considerably in just the past 2 years as prices ran back up from 2011-2015. Some coins have literally dropped 20-50% in just the past 2 years. It could be simply a lower demand and lower liquidity.

liefgold · April 19, 2016 1:30PM

Thanks for the opinions.
My guess it is more related to the comment mercurydimeguy made about the "auction fever' mentality that pushes prices to unrealistic levels with some coins. Whether that is just two crazy bidders or someone artificially pushing up the bids is open for debate.

msch1man · April 19, 2016 1:53PM

I think bigjpst is right...I can't imagine a dealer paying $3300 at auction and a week later deciding to retail it for $1500.

coindeuce · April 19, 2016 2:52PM

Originally posted by: msch1man

I think bigjpst is right...I can't imagine a dealer paying $3300 at auction and a week later deciding to retail it for $1500.

I wouldn't dispute that line of thinking, but rest assured there are some very shrewd (and talented ?) dealers around with gambler's gonads who wouldn't hesitate to dump a nag that fooled the racing form in anticipation of using the take to lay out on a certain trifecta winner in the next race.

Thit happens.

oih82w8 · April 19, 2016 8:10PM

I have paid "buy" prices for less than auction result after the fact, but not that big of a spread.

sellitstore · April 19, 2016 8:55PM

"Or the coin never really sold at all."

I believe this to be the case most of the time in this situation.

Dealer tries a large reserve price first and eventually settles for less.

Buyers sometimes bid against reserves while believing that they are bidding against other legitimate buyers.

SaorAlba · April 19, 2016 8:56PM

An obsolete banknote that sold in a Stacks auction for $1600 back in 2008, I got it for $400 in a Heritage auction in 2010.

davewesen · April 19, 2016 9:42PM

18 months may be 'shortly' for a long term collector, but for many dealers is a long time to have on inventory.

BStrauss3 · April 19, 2016 10:03PM

Post Newman #1 I bought a coin I had lost out on at the auction off eBay as a BIN for less than my underbid.

3 weeks after...

2ndCharter · April 19, 2016 11:55PM

An obsolete banknote that sold in a Stacks auction for $1600 back in 2008, I got it for $400 in a Heritage auction in 2010.

There's been a lot of instances recently where notes that sold at the peak of the market (pre-2008 Financial Meltdown) are now selling for a fraction of their last auction price.

rhedden · April 20, 2016 12:21AM

I can't imagine a coin selling for $3300 (to anyone) only to appear for $1500 a short time later. Something funny was going on with that particular auction.

BarberFanatic · April 20, 2016 12:37PM

Originally posted by: rhedden

I can't imagine a coin selling for $3300 (to anyone) only to appear for $1500 a short time later. Something funny was going on with that particular auction.

+1

Unknown · April 20, 2016 1:31PM

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Lakesammman · April 20, 2016 1:35PM

Not exactly the same scenario, but passed on a IHC at auction for 52K. Less than a year later HA had it back on consignment from the buyer and I bought it for 35K.

Have you bought a coin shortly after a Heritage auction for much less from a dealer?

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