Exceptionally useless and excessive auction catalog verbiage...

MrEureka · April 17, 2021 1:32PM

It aggravates me when I read something like this in an auction catalog description. This on a solid five figure coin, so it's not like they couldn't justify trying harder.

"An exceedingly scarce issue, rare in all conditional states, and exceptionally difficult to locate so near to Mint State condition."'

Seems to me it would have been better to simply say "Rare" and leave it at that.

If you see anything similar, please share! Just don't mention the coin or the auction house. The idea isn't to shame anyone. And besides, they pretty much all do it.

Batman23 · April 17, 2021 1:35PM

Is that code for "buy the holder not the coin"?

Zoins · April 17, 2021 1:36PM

"An exceedingly scarce issue, rare in all conditional states, and exceptionally difficult to locate so near to Mint State condition."'

As soon as I read “scarce”, I think not rare.

2ndCharter · April 17, 2021 1:46PM

Seems to me it would have been better to simply say "Rare" and leave it at that.

And then the consignor will complain to the auction house: "How come you didn't say all sorts of nice things about my coin. I'm going to another auction house next time."

Smudge · April 17, 2021 1:51PM

Seems tame compared to some you see.

WCC · April 17, 2021 1:54PM

It's called marketing but I agree with the sentiment.

bolivarshagnasty · April 17, 2021 1:54PM

MedalCollector · April 17, 2021 2:41PM

It’s pomp and circumstance, a customary practice for items at this price level.

coinkat · April 17, 2021 2:50PM

Is there something in the contract that the ties the commission to the number of words in the coin description?

Lakesammman · April 17, 2021 2:51PM

I love the one about defect, stains and gouges "serving as a useful provenance marker".

Smudge · April 17, 2021 2:59PM

I suppose that if I consigned a coin to an auction house that I would want them to claim that the coin walked on water.

roadrunner · April 17, 2021 8:36PM

@MrEureka said:

"An exceedingly scarce issue, rare in all conditional states, and exceptionally difficult to locate so near to Mint State condition."'

I see that as perfectly normal. And possibly required for some coins that are quite scarce in all conditions yet prohibitively rare at or around mint state. The 1860-s quarter comes to mind as one example. To call that 'rare' to cover all bases would be negligent if I were the consignor with a fully original PCGS AU58 example. Out of about 100-175 of those in existence, I don't believe there is one fully mint state coin....despite the 1 or 2 listed in the pop reports.

Some coins that are "rare" were hoarded in mint state grades.....like the mint marked 1927 and later Saints. 1933 and 1927-D are good examples. In a relative sense, those dates wouldn't be anything "unusual" in mint state since nearly every one in existence is in mint state.

messydesk · April 17, 2021 9:38PM

@MrEureka said:
It aggravates me when I read something like this in an auction catalog description. This on a solid five figure coin, so it's not like they couldn't justify trying harder.

I imagine they tried quite hard to come up with "conditional states" instead of using such a pedestrian term as "grades."

panexpoguy · April 17, 2021 10:00PM

"It was the best of dimes, it was the worst of dimes..."

Zoins · April 17, 2021 10:07PM

@MrEureka said:
It aggravates me when I read something like this in an auction catalog description. This on a solid five figure coin, so it's not like they couldn't justify trying harder.

"An exceedingly scarce issue, rare in all conditional states, and exceptionally difficult to locate so near to Mint State condition."'

Seems to me it would have been better to simply say "Rare" and leave it at that.

If you see anything similar, please share! Just don't mention the coin or the auction house. The idea isn't to shame anyone. And besides, they pretty much all do it.

The auction house does mention the following which is much more impactful to me.

"The offering is the only representative of the ... issue to be certified by either NGC or PCGS to date"

It would be even better if they just included the pop numbers as in some lot descriptions.

PerryHall · April 18, 2021 3:53AM

@WCC said:
It's called marketing but I agree with the sentiment.

Agree. Marketing is a polite word for hype.

Namvet69 · April 18, 2021 4:01AM

All I can think of is the old Mad-Libs game. Playing with adjectives and adverbs. Peace Roy

Desert Moon · April 18, 2021 4:45AM

@MrEureka said:
It aggravates me when I read something like this in an auction catalog description. This on a solid five figure coin, so it's not like they couldn't justify trying harder.

"An exceedingly scarce issue, rare in all conditional states, and exceptionally difficult to locate so near to Mint State condition."'

Seems to me it would have been better to simply say "Rare" and leave it at that.

If you see anything similar, please share! Just don't mention the coin or the auction house. The idea isn't to shame anyone. And besides, they pretty much all do it.

I don't mind such verbiage, saying things in 3 different ways - that it is rare, brings home the message and hypes up the coin. That is what selling in an auction is all about isn't it? Would the consignor want anything less?

Best, SH

keets · April 18, 2021 6:28AM

It aggravates me when I read something like this in an auction catalog description.

the solution is simple, don't read the auction catalogue descriptions.

yspsales · April 18, 2021 7:32AM

@bolivarshagnasty said:

Did not know whether to like or laugh.

I am sooooo stealing this for my Ebay auctions.

When you play around with it... it actually works.

You know some guy at an auction house has a copy somewhere.

skier07 · April 18, 2021 9:57AM

There’s a lot to said about the Great Collections auction description approach. They don’t have any.

Justacommeman · April 18, 2021 10:14AM

I really enjoy JK’s auction descriptions. I look forward anxiously to read the late auction catalogues

m

87redcivic · April 18, 2021 12:26PM

It could be worse. It could be a bad knockoff Ernest Hemingway type description:

There is a coin in the picture above. Anyone who would have been new when this coin was new is now old and dead. The face on the coin is a person who is dead. There used to be many more of these coins. Most surviving coins of this type now look old. This coin does not. While others moved through circulation and vanished, this coin did not. There is a value marked on the coin. It is not the value of the coin, because this old coin does not look old and there are not many of them now.

coinkat · April 18, 2021 12:45PM

bringing Hemingway into this is simply bad form...and I am being as polite as I can be.

Coinosaurus · April 18, 2021 12:57PM

I'm sure everyone appreciates that auction catalogs represent a combination of marketing and research (the exact mix depending on the auction house and the cataloger). Bottom line, they are sales tools and underwritten by sale proceeds.

If someone really wants a completely unbiased view, they should engage a buyer's agent.

Coinosaurus · April 18, 2021 12:58PM

@Lakesammman said:
I love the one about defect, stains and gouges "serving as a useful provenance marker".

Hey you - don't give away our secrets

bidask · April 18, 2021 1:24PM

The opposite happens as well in that descriptions of auction lots by the cataloguer knocks the coin that was consigned to them ... rather than letting the TPG holder and the coin speak for itself.

airplanenut · April 18, 2021 1:56PM

@bolivarshagnasty said:

I've seen the same type of thing for a Shakespeare insult generator. Someone brought the lists into work and I realized it was a really good fun little thing to exercise a new coding package I had just gotten, so I wrote a quick insult generator program out of it. Found some issues with the coding package and sent them to the company that made it. Shortly thereafter found out how many of their engineers were taking a look at my insult generator, hoping I didn't accidentally make them all think I don't actually do any real work

Connecticoin · April 18, 2021 2:41PM

When the coin is one of the "top 100" rarities, i really enjoy the two page auction descriptions with dessert-plate size images. Typically the thesaurus is fully utilized.

WinLoseWin · April 18, 2021 2:50PM

@airplanenut said:

@bolivarshagnasty said:
...

I've seen the same type of thing for a Shakespeare insult generator. Someone brought the lists into work and I realized it was a really good fun little thing to exercise a new coding package I had just gotten, so I wrote a quick insult generator program out of it. Found some issues with the coding package and sent them to the company that made it. Shortly thereafter found out how many of their engineers were taking a look at my insult generator, hoping I didn't accidentally make them all think I don't actually do any real work

.
.
Found a Shakespearean Insults Generator online:

http://www.literarygenius.info/a1-shakespearean-insults-generator.htm

.
.
I got "Thou crusty tickle-brained boar-pig!"

It's a fair description of some coins I own and too kind on some others.

This could put some catalogers out of a job.

tradedollarnut · April 18, 2021 4:12PM

Hmmmm. If exceptionally useless and excessive verbiage bothers you....why are you here?

Rollerman · April 18, 2021 7:42PM

Well, just saying "rare" isn't very descriptive as it's used (misused?) all the time, kind of like"rainbow toned".
I was with some coin buddies attending a big show in Chicago and as we started to walk in, I said, "You guys ready to look at hundreds of thousands of "rare" coins?"

MasonG · April 18, 2021 8:16PM

How many collectors, when they consign their coins to an auction house, include as one of their non-negotiable terms that the auction house must not, in any way, shape and form, hype their coins in the catalog descriptions?

Asking for friend.

CoinJunkie · April 18, 2021 10:20PM

I remember back in the late 80s, some guy at work mailed around a random California cuisine generator. It would output stuff like "Blackened popcorn on a bed of grilled radicchio". Unfortunately (or not), I couldn't find any trace of its existence as of now via Google.

sellitstore · April 19, 2021 5:35AM

When I cataloged coins for a big auction house, I was told "less is more", which was contrary to the practices of most coin auctioneers. This strategy of "willful ignorance" attracted many bidders thinking that they knew more than the others in attendance and help drive prices high many times.

ColonelJessup · April 19, 2021 1:43PM

Your thread title is either
1) quite droll and an excellent parody (Cabernet before) or
2) an indication you have already been titillated, enchanted and seduced by such an unwieldy and variegated plethora of expository verbosity that overload PTSD must (if possible) be ruled out. (Cabernet after)

Coinosaurus · April 19, 2021 2:12PM

@Rollerman said:
Well, just saying "rare" isn't very descriptive as it's used (misused?) all the time, kind of like"rainbow toned".
I was with some coin buddies attending a big show in Chicago and as we started to walk in, I said, "You guys ready to look at hundreds of thousands of "rare" coins?"

In the Heritage catalogs, "rare" is actually meaningful. It has to be under a certain number known for them to use "rare," or "scarce," etc.

Elcontador · April 19, 2021 4:18PM

The more expensive the coin, the more verbiage I expect to see in its description.

My favorite coin description was by someone I will name not at an auction house I will also not name, describing a $10K coin. "Wait, what is this? You don't want this coin. It's a piece of ***.!" Yes, he actually said that.

pruebas · April 19, 2021 5:34PM

@bolivarshagnasty said:

All I’d like to know is how to become a bon vivant?

astrorat · April 19, 2021 5:49PM

@Justacommeman said:
I really enjoy JK’s auction descriptions. I look forward anxiously to read the late auction catalogues

m

JK's item descriptions, whether auction lots or offering descriptions often burden the reader. Burden the gentle reader, not with stale rhetoric, but with content inspiring one to learn more ... bastard!

retirednow · April 19, 2021 6:13PM

I just think of Great Collections .. they may add words to a 6 $ fig piece but for most pieces (INCLUDING 5 fig value coins) they add no description .. and I am fine with this

Exceptionally useless and excessive auction catalog verbiage...

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