Show Us Your Hansen "Underbids" - He Won, You Lost!
Inspired by the recent "Hansen Cast-Off" and "Collection Value" threads. These are coins you really tried to win at auction, but it turned out to be impossible! - or at least you got a strong feeling it was impossible.
Here is mine - an 1839 Small Letters Capped Bust Half in PCGS VF25 that wound up selling for ~$85k in a Legend auction a couple of years ago. I was prepared to sell off a big chunk of my collection to get this and I put in a very respectable bid, but $85k was way beyond my expectation. And I had the distinct feeling that things could easily have gone into six figures, so I just had to let it pass. Sure enough, the coin later showed up in the Hansen registry sets, so I didn't feel too bad about being an underbidder. And in the spirit of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" I was able to win a reasonably nice details-graded example about a year later, so all's well that ends well.

Comments
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Depending on the final price, sometimes the underbidder is the winner.

Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire9 -
I cannot compete in Hansen level auctions... No longer even try... Cheers, RickO
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Funny timing that you post this topic today. I was randomly going through my Heritage bidding history a couple of days ago and came across one instance.
I find it fun and nostalgic to revisit my old lost bids once in a while to see the coins that I used to covet (and some that I still do) and how my tastes have changed over time. My reactions run the gamut from "thank God I didn't win that" to "man, I could have hit 'bid' one more time". This one is somewhere in between - I still love the coin but I think I made a pretty good run at it.


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Darn just missed it.



"If it's not fun, it's not worth it." - KeyMan64
Not really looking for much these days but if I were, it might be a toner.
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@keyman64 said:
Darn just missed it.
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You might have, once upon a time:
https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/552117/1938-S-Mercury-Dime-NGC-MS-67-226-152-133-FB-Toned
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And people say there’s nothing good in NGC slabs.
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This dog is too small to run with Hanson. I can only afford the scraps that might fall out of his dish.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?2 -
Luckily what I buy is too low of a grade to interest him!😂
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This thread gives me some PTSD…I’m thankful that there’s not a thread of “show us the coins you outbid DLH on”, because there would be a lot of sadness on some missed opportunities for myself there!
John Brush
President of David Lawrence Rare Coins www.davidlawrence.com
email: John@davidlawrence.com
2022 ANA Dealer of the Year, Past Chair of NCBA (formerly ICTA), PNG Treasurer, Instructor at Witter Coin University, former Instructor/YN Chaperone ANA Summer Seminar, Coin World Most Influential, Curator of the D.L. Hansen Collection1
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