Should I feel guilty? Ionian Islands Coin

crito · October 16, 2005 1:25AM

I bought this coin from Jeff Zarit on eBay for US$32. His auction pic was too bright and made coin seem white and washed out. I've asked him several times if he'd send coins in for grading that I was interested in purchasing and he always refused. Usually got a speech on the evils of entombing coins in plastic too, but anyway... I estimate that it's worth AT LEAST US$250 now.

Should I feel guilty?

Only spent a couple minutes on this pic, so sorry for poor quality. Despite being completely brown coin still exhibits full cartwheel luster.

coinpictures · October 16, 2005 1:37AM

Heck no, don't feel guilty! Well done!

farthing · October 16, 2005 1:38AM

Absolutely not!

I have heard from others that Jeff is an excellent dealer but I have found that he is one of the least helpful sellers on eBay when it comes to answering questions on their listed items. His listings never tell you anything about the coin and when I have asked questions in the past the normal response is "What you see is what you get".

Nice coin!

crito · October 16, 2005 1:47AM

Jeff has been very helpful to me in the past. Helped me track down some auction catalogs I needed to attribute rare varieties in my Peruvian Sol collection. He just always gets upset when I bring up the topic of slabs. Don't really understand why. Anyway, I'll probably have to buy a few more coins from him before my conscience is appeased. It's the highest graded Ionian coin in my collection at the moment (and not for sale by the way.)

Conder101 · October 16, 2005 1:54AM

I've bought from Jeff on several occasions. He has been able to come up with some really interesting things that I needed. Still though I do not personally like the guy and I find him to be a real jerk, not helpful, not friendly.

cosmicdebris · October 16, 2005 2:05AM

What a great deal you got on that one.

gxseries · October 16, 2005 2:11AM

You know, he even sold a 1834 commemorative Alexandrine Column ruble before. I have no idea where he gets those coins from.

Syracusian · October 16, 2005 3:46AM

Crito,very nice coin, worth around $130-150 as such despite what catalogues say. Jeff is a nice seller, although he can be very peculiar in personal relationships sometimes.

crito · October 16, 2005 3:55AM

I use http://www.greekcoins.gr/ for price guesstimates. Says 180 euro for it in unc, which probably means the average 62/63 coin. Have no idea how much of a boost a 64 would get, and won't be putting it on ebay to find out, but anyway, $250 should be a conservative estimate.

Oh, and this one I won on ebay from some seller in UK for about $100. Catalog value is 300 euro. Didn't know the seller so hasn't bothered me as much.

Interestingly, some experts argue this is in fact a 1/2 (half) Obol. By weight it certainly makes sense. A 2 Obol weighs 18.9 grams, an Obol weighs 9.45 grams and a 1/2 Obol weighs 4.72 grams. But since Krause is the Bible on these I'll have to call it a 2 Lepta for now.

Bailathacl · October 16, 2005 4:10AM

In dealing with Mr. Zarit (which I will not do anymore) I found him to be personally abusive and unprofessional. When he discovered his own error which led to a berating phone message to me, the only response was a somewhat apologetic email from his wife. His selection of coins seems fine, but all i can say is CAVEAT EMPTOR.

Do NOT feel guilty, WTG!!

crito · October 16, 2005 4:22AM

I guess being Brooklyn born makes me thicker skinned... anyway, just wanted to add that I'd be HAPPY TO PAY $250 for one graded 65 by ANACS. So if anyone can really get them near this quality for half the price, here's your opportunity to make some money off me.

I've got a pile of 62's already though, so really don't need any more of those.

1jester · October 16, 2005 4:26AM

Crito, you should absolutely feel guilty. Send me the coin to ease the guilt.

Stork · October 16, 2005 5:27AM

And remind us what his ebay seller's id is

Aethelred · October 16, 2005 5:31AM

Crito, if you had bought the coin from me and came out like you did here, I would be happy for you. You have no reason to feel guilty!

crito · October 16, 2005 5:42AM

Jeff Zarit's eBay "about me" page

There, now I feel a little better, and I was just about to donate it to the 1jester coin fund, phew (sorry bud.)

lordmarcovan · October 16, 2005 5:52AM

<< Still though I do not personally like the guy and I find him to be a real jerk, not helpful, not friendly. >>

This was the impression I got in person. The guy is an ass.

1jester · October 16, 2005 6:48AM

<< Jeff Zarit's eBay "about me" page

There, now I feel a little better, and I was just about to donate it to the 1jester coin fund, phew (sorry bud.)

>>

Well, I guess I can forgive you this time, just don't let it happen again!

MacCrimmon · October 16, 2005 7:02AM

Indeed, Mr. Zarit is not to be confused with Dale Carnegie.

ajaan · October 16, 2005 7:16AM

<< if you had bought the coin from me and came out like you did here, I would be happy for you. >>

Aethelred · October 16, 2005 7:32AM

<< 

<< Still though I do not personally like the guy and I find him to be a real jerk, not helpful, not friendly. >>

This was the impression I got in person. The guy is an ass. >>

Why is this guy so popular? If I have ever met him I can't recall it.

coinkat · October 16, 2005 8:20AM

Somethings may be better left unsaid... however, if the shoe fits...

AuldFartte · October 16, 2005 9:31AM

Don't waste the guilt, man. You ripped him a new one with that deal. He could have put a reserve on it ... right???

lordmarcovan · October 16, 2005 11:39AM

<< Why is this guy so popular? If I have ever met him I can't recall it. >>

You were a few tables ahead of me at FUN 2004 when Mister Personality spoke to me. His introduction, upon seeing me in the Holey Coin ensemble, was:

"You DO realize you look like a f***ing idiot, don't you?"

At least in my case it was a deliberately cultivated image.

You were there, but I think you were out of earshot at the time.

Aethelred · October 16, 2005 11:42AM

Si he knows how to charm the customers huh?

crito · October 16, 2005 2:05PM

Yeah, I'm sure I'll get over it. Also noticed he only seems to run fixed price BIN auctions now, so guess I wasn't the only one to "rip him a new one" when he still did true auctions on ebay. Anyway, since I'm already sharing pics, there was a third Ionian coin in my recent ANACS submission, the one from this
previous CU thread. You'll be happy to know ANACS agreed with the consensus opinion and put "repunched date" on the label.

I was kind of hoping for an AU50 or 55 though. Coin certainly is all there detail-wise, but I guess ANACS felt it didn't meet the 50% remaining luster requirement. Oh well, XF45 is still a very respectible grade.

cya later

Syracusian · October 16, 2005 4:13PM

Crito,

I am surprised that you are aware of this site

, I thought it was more of a family site, run by a collector in the north of Greece. I sometimes post on their discussion boards under my ebay name,and the same icon as here, but not very often. The price lists are in general compiled by another member and friend. Undoubtedly the 1862 1 lepton can reach that amount in the Anacs slab if sold in a shop, but on ebay they usually bring less. Now the half-obol on the other hand, is a much more rare coin in uncirculated condition and I believe that yours should be easily worth $400 if found in this condition.Along with the obol, you have a very nice trio and you only need two more coins for a complete basic Ionian type set.

Regarding Jeff now, yes he's a professional seller who doesn't have a lot of patience with people that he considers as time wasters. The way he behaved to Rob was totally unacceptable and it's long been an inside joke between the two of us, as I had personally asked Rob to go and ask Jeff about some coins on my behalf during that FUN show. Fortunately our Lord is not only thick skinned but has a lot of humour as well so I think he handled the situation well.

crito · October 16, 2005 11:24PM

I already have the 2 obol, in PCGS AU55 no less:

As to prices, afraid I have to disagree on the higher grade examples. I routinely see UNC examples trade for MORE THAN cataloge value (well, Krause catalog value anyway) on ebay. Lower grade examples do trade for less, however. So the demand depends largely on condition, as you seem to have observed also.

spinaker2000 · October 16, 2005 11:33PM

guilty??? Heck no!! Those finds are what makes my day!

ajaan · October 16, 2005 11:38PM

Guilty? No. Not from a professional dealer. I have never dealt with Zarit so I can't comment on his business practices but I would have loved to have heard him say that to Rob. I would have gone back to him and asked him how many media outlets interviewed him at the show.

Udo · October 17, 2005 1:48AM

Not guilty!

Zarit seems to have some kind of strange manners.

I too have an experience with him. Once I bought two coins from him, and as he shipped the coins, he was forced to use a very big envelope to place all those stamps on it.

Thank God there was enough space left for the address-label.

laurentyvan · October 17, 2005 2:06AM

Ionian, as a name it rings true with some collectors, not with others. Strange little place, strange little coin, but very desireable, to me at least.

. Beautiful piece...

NJMark1 · October 17, 2005 2:07AM

Great find!!! No guilt on your part involved here..

Mark

DBSTrader2 · October 17, 2005 2:23AM

For a "1-per-country" collector, at what price can a much more "circulated" example of this coin be purchased in the real-world market? I'm interested.

Thanks!

- - Dave

Syracusian · October 17, 2005 2:37AM

Dave, it's a tiny (16mm) coin that will rarely sell below $20-$25, nowadays even modern Greek clad coins sell for more. I think it should be enough for a gVF example of 1862, the final and easiest date to obtain.

BTW, I was thinking of you yesterday, I got a nice shiny BU Olympic 2 euro and thought to keep it to send it to you, but I finally spent it.

laurentyvan · October 17, 2005 2:46AM

My 1835 one Lepta cost $7.00, albeit with a tiny scratch

.

ajaan · October 17, 2005 2:47AM

Dave, I saw a very nasty looking Ionian Island coin in a bulk bin this past weekend. Couldn't read the date, I could just tell it was Ionian by the design. I could have picked it up for 33c.

crito · October 17, 2005 7:59AM

LOL Udo, wish I could say that's only happened to me with Zarit, but seems a lot of coin dealers used to be coin & stamp dealers.

secondrepublic · October 17, 2005 12:30PM

Somebody upstairs must like Zarit, or maybe it's just luck. He sure hit a home run with this eBay auction.

On a good day - a really good day - this is a $35 to $40 coin. On a slow day, it's a $20 to $25 coin.

Hard to tell from the picture how nice it is. It seems to have the typical light abrasions on Pilsudski's lower jaw seen on many UNC coins, but otherwise looks nice. However, the 1939s are the most common Polish coins from this period in BU, simply because they didn't see much circulation before WWII started in September 1939. When you see a 1939 Polish coin, you almost have to ask yourself why it's not in UNC.

Guess someone really wanted this piece... but for $186.50?

1jester · October 17, 2005 5:20PM

<< Somebody upstairs must like Zarit, or maybe it's just luck. He sure hit a home run with this eBay auction.

On a good day - a really good day - this is a $35 to $40 coin. On a slow day, it's a $20 to $25 coin.

Hard to tell from the picture how nice it is. It seems to have the typical light abrasions on Pilsudski's lower jaw seen on many UNC coins, but otherwise looks nice. However, the 1939s are the most common Polish coins from this period in BU, simply because they didn't see much circulation before WWII started in September 1939. When you see a 1939 Polish coin, you almost have to ask yourself why it's not in UNC.

Guess someone really wanted this piece... but for $186.50?

>>

I'm stunned at the price that coin brought. In addition to looking less than uncirculated, it looks dipped as well. What a price!

FilamCoins · October 17, 2005 9:06PM

Great rip, Crito! Congrats

Met said dealer at ANA show in SF this year. Don't like him at all

Been off my seller list ever since. His loss BIG TIME!!

Should I feel guilty? Ionian Islands Coin

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