CPK Posted June 5 · Supporter Share Posted June 5 I have to say, I was impressed with CNG's latest eAuction which closed today. Lots of premium coins from notable collections made it feel more like a Feature auction. I had a few on my watch list, and placed several bids, but I didn't end up winning anything. I guess I didn't want anything bad enough to get too aggressive with bidding. Prices seemed in line with the general trend: very strong. Though there were some good decent deals as well. I'm shocked at what one of my target coins ended up bringing. It was a very, very nice Carausius antoninianus, ex Dr. Malcolm Lyne coll. Hammered for $1,100 on a $150 estimate! 😯 I've got my eye on a few coins in other auctions this weekend, so it wasn't too much of a disappointment. But let's hear from the rest of you! Did you watch, bid, win, or lose anything today? Anything especially interesting or noteworthy stand out to you about any particular coin? Please share your experience! 🙂 8 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Conduitt Posted June 5 · Supporter Share Posted June 5 15 minutes ago, CPK said: I have to say, I was impressed with CNG's latest eAuction which closed today. Lots of premium coins from notable collections made it feel more like a Feature auction. I had a few on my watch list, and placed several bids, but I didn't end up winning anything. I guess I didn't want anything bad enough to get too aggressive with bidding. Prices seemed in line with the general trend: very strong. Though there were some good decent deals as well. I'm shocked at what one of my target coins ended up bringing. It was a very, very nice Carausius antoninianus, ex Dr. Malcolm Lyne coll. Hammered for $1,100 on a $150 estimate! 😯 I've got my eye on a few coins in other auctions this weekend, so it wasn't too much of a disappointment. But let's hear from the rest of you! Did you watch, bid, win, or lose anything today? Anything especially interesting or noteworthy stand out to you about any particular coin? Please share your experience! 🙂 There was absolutely no way that Carausius would have got close to $150. (I mean, it's not Pax for a start). Very nice coins of his go for many thousands. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewomack Posted June 5 · Supporter Share Posted June 5 I was pretty flabbergasted. I had never looked at a CNG auction in the past, but I decided to see what happened to some of the rare Byzantines they offered. I have learned, and many of you likely already know, that the price 2 weeks out is absolutely no reflection of the final price. There was a Theodusius III that just a week ago was still sitting at $275. It ended up selling for $900 (with a 20% buyers fee of $180). The Philippicus coin, which the last time I looked sat at $450, went for $1000 (with the same 20% buyers fee). I have no idea if those are good or bad prices for those very rare emperors, but those amounts are beyond what I'm willing to pay. I wondered why the estimates for both were set at $200 and $250. That ended up quite a bit off. I generally don't like to take part in auctions because it's so easy to get emotionally wrapped up in them and buy things without fully thinking, especially as the last few seconds tick by and your last bid was only $25 less than the winning bid. I'm guessing that's part of the point of the format itself, though I'm guessing some people get lucky and have little or no competition for things sometimes. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted June 5 · Supporter Author Share Posted June 5 (edited) 10 minutes ago, John Conduitt said: There was absolutely no way that Carausius would have got close to $150. (I mean, it's not Pax for a start). Very nice coins of his go for many thousands. I would have thought maybe more like $400-500 but you are probably right! Especially given the condition and collection provenance. I do wonder why the estimates on some coins are so low. For example many common but popular types like Tiberian denarii or Athenian tetradrachms have estimates way under the market. Maybe it's so they can have a lower starting bid? Edited June 5 by CPK 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted June 5 · Supporter Author Share Posted June 5 Another coin I was interested in that I thought sold for a decent price was this beautiful denarius of Divus Septimius Severus - ex Wild Rose, ex Triton, ex Gemini, ex NAC (hammered for nearly $600 in one of those previous auctions!) I was the underbidder on this one, congrats to whoever got it! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romancollector Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 1 hour ago, CPK said: Another coin I was interested in that I thought sold for a decent price was this beautiful denarius of Divus Septimius Severus - ex Wild Rose, ex Triton, ex Gemini, ex NAC (hammered for nearly $600 in one of those previous auctions!) I was the underbidder on this one, congrats to whoever got it! This was a steal. I already have this type; otherwise, I would have gone after it. I did win five coins in this auction (two provincial and three imperial), all of which hammered for far less than I thought they would. I did, however, lose two targets which practically doubled my highest bids. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor DonnaML Posted June 6 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted June 6 I bid unsuccessfully on two Roman Alexandrian tetradrachms with interesting reverses. One hammered for close to twice my bid; the other for only $25 more than my bid. But I didn't know how much higher I would have had to go to win it if the other person had continued to bid, and didn't want to get carried away. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor DonnaML Posted June 6 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted June 6 2 hours ago, CPK said: I do wonder why the estimates on some coins are so low. For example many common but popular types like Tiberian denarii or Athenian tetradrachms have estimates way under the market. Maybe it's so they can have a lower starting bid? I have always assumed that it's primarily to entice more people to participate in the bidding by letting them think they have a chance, and hoping that they then get carried away. 4 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor kirispupis Posted June 6 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted June 6 I bid on three Greek coins and won zero. Not too upset though since my bids weren't as aggressive because none were major priorities. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted June 6 · Supporter Author Share Posted June 6 38 minutes ago, Romancollector said: This was a steal. I already have this type; otherwise, I would have gone after it. I did win five coins in this auction (two provincial and three imperial), all of which hammered for far less than I thought they would. I did, however, lose two targets which practically doubled my highest bids. Yes I was expecting it to go at least to $300 or $400, and it could easily have gone higher. It's a beautiful coin! Looking forward to seeing what you won whenever you get a chance to post them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted June 6 · Supporter Author Share Posted June 6 13 minutes ago, kirispupis said: I bid on three Greek coins and won zero. Not too upset though since my bids weren't as aggressive because none were major priorities. I had my eye on that Aegina turtle hemiobol, but didn't place any bids. It hammered for nearly $1k - a lot of money for only half a gram, but I suppose it's very rare to find one in such good condition! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factor Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 (edited) I scored one out of six, but the one I got was my main target in this sale. It was already the third time they listed this particular coin (a unique piece of Macrinus from Neapolis), first in January of last year on Triton, after that in September on Feature Auction 124, and on both occasions I tried but didn't manage to get it. I guess the winner never paid for it, so they listed it again and I got it for about 1/3 of what was ready to pay for it! The coin besides being a unique variant is also very nice in hand, I had a chance to examine it at the last year's NY convention. Here is CNG's video: https://cngcoins.com/photos/CNG_Links/video/CNG_124/461.html Edited June 6 by Factor 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Postvmvs Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 I was the underbidder on one coin. I approach auctions with a number in mind and stick to it, fully expecting to be blown out of the water at venues like CNG. So in this case, I guess you could say I lost by less than I expected? The last time I bid on a CNG auction, the coin went for more than twice my number. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ela126 Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 3 hours ago, ewomack said: I was pretty flabbergasted. I had never looked at a CNG auction in the past, but I decided to see what happened to some of the rare Byzantines they offered. I have learned, and many of you likely already know, that the price 2 weeks out is absolutely no reflection of the final price. There was a Theodusius III that just a week ago was still sitting at $275. It ended up selling for $900 (with a 20% buyers fee of $180). The Philippicus coin, which the last time I looked sat at $450, went for $1000 (with the same 20% buyers fee). I have no idea if those are good or bad prices for those very rare emperors, but those amounts are beyond what I'm willing to pay. I wondered why the estimates for both were set at $200 and $250. That ended up quite a bit off. I generally don't like to take part in auctions because it's so easy to get emotionally wrapped up in them and buy things without fully thinking, especially as the last few seconds tick by and your last bid was only $25 less than the winning bid. I'm guessing that's part of the point of the format itself, though I'm guessing some people get lucky and have little or no competition for things sometimes. We had our eyes on the same coins. I also was chasing the Carthage revolt Deca. Best I’ve ever seen. I thought I had some strong bids on that, and the 2 coins you mentioned, but dropped out 2 bids short of the winnings bids on all 3. (Which means there were 2 people above me). I did notice for the 2 coins you mentioned, they listed the last auction prices, which were 3-4 times the estimate the provided.. I guess no surprise they went for similar money then, strong coins. Butttttt… not to brag, but I got what I think is a good one, and landed right at estimate!! Unheard of.. Can’t for the life of my figure out why they didn’t mention the hammer prices this one got on previous auctions, I got it for less than half, almost a third of the previous hammers. Very happy. 8 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Skin Coins Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 I had my eye on this Balbinus denarius. Such a nice patina, reminds me of a modern sandblasted matte proof. But I was a little gun-shy after spending way more than I had planned on a coin in last week's Feature Auction, so ended up not even making a bid. Regretting it a bit! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Atherton Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 Well, I got the one lot I targeted ... so, I'm pretty happy! 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleun96 Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 The post feature eSales at CNG are always strong, they're like mini-features because they have a lot of the coins that didn't fit into the feature sale. Once you know that, you know to expect strong competition. I was lucky to win my main target. It went for a bit more than I would've liked but below my max so can't complain. Aside from being a type that I had wanted for quite some type (one of the earliest Alexander types from the Myriandros mint), it's also formerly of a very special collection who many of us had the pleasure of knowing: Terence Cheesman. It featured as coin #6 in his Top 10 of 2022: Having talked with Terence a few times about Alexander coinage, and knowing what kind of collection he had built over the years, I was quite determined to have the honour of picking up one of his coins from this sale for my own Alexander collection. 11 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted June 6 · Supporter Author Share Posted June 6 6 hours ago, David Atherton said: Well, I got the one lot I targeted ... so, I'm pretty happy! I'd like to think I can guess which lot that was. 😉 791? That coin was on my watch list, but I figured better for it to go to a specialist's collection so I didn't bother bidding. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPK Posted June 6 · Supporter Author Share Posted June 6 1 hour ago, Kaleun96 said: The post feature eSales at CNG are always strong, they're like mini-features because they have a lot of the coins that didn't fit into the feature sale. Once you know that, you know to expect strong competition. I was lucky to win my main target. It went for a bit more than I would've liked but below my max so can't complain. Aside from being a type that I had wanted for quite some type (one of the earliest Alexander types from the Myriandros mint), it's also formerly of a very special collection who many of us had the pleasure of knowing: Terence Cheesman. It featured as coin #6 in his Top 10 of 2022: Having talked with Terence a few times about Alexander coinage, and knowing what kind of collection he had built over the years, I was quite determined to have the honour of picking up one of his coins from this sale for my own Alexander collection. That is a lovely tetradrachm, and I like the little scorpion. Congrats! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor Ancient Coin Hunter Posted June 6 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted June 6 I sat this one out after spending a bit more than I wanted to at the last Leu e-auction. Nice wins for those with the quickest reaction times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Atherton Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 1 hour ago, CPK said: I'd like to think I can guess which lot that was. 😉 791? That coin was on my watch list, but I figured better for it to go to a specialist's collection so I didn't bother bidding. Actually, no it wasn't that lot. I'm very superstitious about sharing coins not in hand, but I'll share it soon (?) ... still quite a few ahead of it though! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikodeimos Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 (edited) I had several coins on my watch list, though I'm holding out for another auction. Honestly, I was very impressed with the offering. A year or two ago, I felt there was a bit of a slump in CNG's e-auctions, but the quality has improved dramatically. @ela126 That is definitely one of the most charming types in the whole of Byzantine coinage. Congratulations! Edited June 6 by Nikodeimos 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kowsky Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 I did submit 7 auction pre-bids for CNG 563, despite still waiting for the 3 coins I won at CNG Feature Auction 126 😖, & didn't win anything ☹️. One coin that caught my eye was lot 527, a mule of Septimius Severus, pictured below. SELEUCIS & PIERIA, Laodicea ad Mare. Septimius Severus, AD 193-211. Billon Tetradrachm: 15.08 gm, 26.5 mm, 12 h. Prieur & Amandry 16/32 (for obv. & rev.). one of two known. Rare. Estimate $300, price realized with buyer's premium $2,040 😮! The other example of this coin type sold at Triton XXVII, lot 5493, January 17, 2024, estimate $300, price realized with buyer's premium $796.25. Pictured below are the two coins together for comparison. Both coins are the same type but struck from different dies, so are these coins really RARE 🤔? Is the example from CNG 563 worth $2,040, & will more examples of this coin type appear in the future 🤔? I wonder how many of these coins are sitting in private collections & dealer stocks that have yet to be recognized as mules 🤨..... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaximander Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 I was impressed with CNG's Electronic Auction 563, so much so that I bid early and often. All of 16 lots. They were strong in Greek Italy and very strong in Seleukids. Some bids were losers right out of the gate. I mourn the ones that got away. So many were lost by just one bid increment. I won two... nothing earth-shattering, but paying over twice the estimates. The Cypriot coin is, for me, something of a novelty, not a specialty. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hesiod Posted June 6 · Member Share Posted June 6 30 minutes ago, Anaximander said: Congrats! I consigned the evagoras third stater (as I managed to pick up a stater at the end of the hoard) and think the price was quite reasonable 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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