Anyone else have bids in? I saw some crazy prices, estimates on most coins completely blowing out the estimates, often by 100% or more. Quite the tease, I thought I was up for a couple but then the live bidding just went crazy. Not that this is a problem, certainly some very happy sellers out there. Here's a good example, $750 estimate, $11,500 result! With the dealer premium thrown in there were some very odd bids on bullion items as well, 1oz gold nugget coins and RCM 1oz maples going well over what you can get them from any bullion dealer. My only complaint is the new live bidding platform, the bidding jumps sometimes hundreds of dollars at a time. I went to place a $160 dollar bid on a Japanese trade dollar and the bid jumped straight to $270 without any intervening steps and I ended up spending a lot more than I intended. I love the coin but I wouldn't have paid that intentionally (it's holed, but otherwise great). In the case of the Chinese coin above the bidding went straight from $440 to $11,500 in one jump, someone could have gone to bid $480 and if they tapped just as the new bid came in found themselves bidding $12,500!!! I only won a few of the coin lots I bid on, I had high hopes for a few of the Greek coins I wanted but apart from 2 of the less exciting ones (one great looking one though) I missed them all. I also got the trade dollar I mentioned and a small collection of golden horde silver dhirems. The one area I did well in was the non-coin portion. I won a complete Soviet Lt.Generals parade uniform with all the medals, that's going up on my wall. I also got a set of 19th century Burmese opium weights, little statues of of birds and lions, each around 3 inches tall in bronze. I got an autograph of Karl Dnitz on a copy of his speech accepting leadership of the third Reich after Hitler's suicide and an autograph of Hindenburg on a retirement certificate of a German major. That's pretty much it...except for the piece de resistance; A letter hand written by the Duke of Wellington, Victor of Waterloo, detailing all of his titles and military awards, still has the original envelope with the free postage stamp (aristocrats got free mail back then, cheap bastards). I had to sell a couple kilos to pay for it all and I wish I had won a couple of the Greek coins I was hanging out on but I'm really happy with the historical items. I know there must be a few others out there who follow the nobles auctions, how did you make out?
There was definitely some interesting stuff there that isn't what you wouldnt normally seek out. An autograph of Paul Tibbets on some Enola Gay stamps, a printed picture of a bf-109 with dozens of liftwaffe aces signiatures and about 50 other cool historical pieces. I always thought that there's a gap in the market for an antique/collectibles/numismatic shop that specialised in those sorts of fantastic curios. The kind of shop that geeks like us here on SS shouldn't go into lest we walk out with maxed out credit cards and an empty wallet.
was looking at the catalog and realised quickly that if there was a shop like that I'd need to own it otherwise I'd be divorced :lol:
Explain this (+19.25% buyer premium): 269: Perth Mint, proof gold four coin nugget set, 1987 - sold $3,300 270: Perth Mint, proof gold nugget four coin set, 1987 - sold $2,450 271: Perth mint, proof gold four coin nugget set, 1987 - sold $2,500 wtf ? unless 269 is a typo 418: Perth Mint, mint one ounce gold nugget, 1988 - sold $1,450 = $1,730 inc premium you an buy a brand new 2105 one from gold stackers for $1,553 !
That's what I'm talking about, I get that on some items that are rare, particularly with old numismatics where a coin might have attractive wear out toning or be otherwise unique you could have 2 people in the room who could end things to the moon, but spending sorbet $4000 on 1.8oz of gold? Again and again there were examples like that. I know at some of the auction houses thru give a discount on the premium to large dealers or private buyers who spend a certain amount but I didn't think nobles did that. Even if someone had their premium halved to roughly 10% then there's no profit to be had for a dealer. There was a set of 11 1oz privy kooks that went for $504 with premium. Ordinary sovs in just slightly better than ordinary condition going for $500 and someone paying $300 a coin over the full retail price at perth bullion for a lot of 6 RCM gold maples, they could have saved $1800 by just walking into a bullion shop). I'm glad for Noble's, it's a great auction house that deserves to thrive, but I feel as though there's something that we don't know and I'd like to be fully informed of what's going on when I'm bidding on items (I bid on a few of those bullion items for a family member). Still, I'm much better informed fir next time and Roxbury's is coming up, I really can't sustain buying so much though so here's to hoping that there's only a couple things in the best auction there for me.
I was contemplating bidding on some of the Canadian stuff but didn't end up putting in bids. I agree with you that they seemed to be a bit low on a number of their estimates. I was looking at bidding on 2064, a 1914 George V ten dollar gold coin. It was estimated at $1,000 but ended up selling for $1,400. I was going to bid about $960 for it, but held off because I suspect they'll be cheaper if gold prices go down and I buy U.S. dollars now. I was also looking at lots 2218 to 2224 as based on the estimated prices it seemed like there were a number of bargains in there. Again, didn't get around to bidding, but the average sale price was 50% higher than the estimate. Lot 2221 was estimated at $130 and went for $250, a second was estimated at $150 and went for $360. Part of it is just the day. There was a lot at the last auction I went to that had gone unsold for one or possibly two auctions and then I ended up bidding on it that day and was hoping to get it for cheap. Unfortunately, there was a guy behind me who apparently had also inspected the lot and discovered that it was much better than described. We both bid on it, but I was stupid and stopped bidding too soon. As for the jumps, during yesterday's auction, I was watching the live auction online and there was a bit of a lag between the video and the bids. Basically, I'd see the bid jump up and then about 5-10 seconds later I'd hear the person making the bid. I'm guessing that it is differences in the transmission time for the video and the update on the bid. Also, it seemed like there were at least a few typos. I saw one item that was estimated for around $500 that sold for $5000 and I saw another item that was estimated for $5600 or something like that that sold for $600.
A few of my new treasures, not all, but pretty much all the good stuff. Let's start slow, a cystophoric tetradrachm, a little larger than a 20 cent piece, it's a piece of ancient Greek art almost 2200 years old in silver bought for around $80. Before I knew anything about numismatics I would have thought such a large coin in this sort of condition would be the preserve of museums and oil barons. This cost a little more and is a little smaller, but something about it's simple balanced aesthetics and clear detail really appeals. It's a Theban obol, about 13 grams of silver. It's a little older than the tetradrachm and probably my favorite for the batch even though it doesn't have the wow factor of the next coin. Look familiar? No, it's not some cheap Asian knock off of an s2 lunar dragon, it's the coin that proves that the perth mint dragons are in fact cheap Australasian knock offs of these japanese coins. This trade dollar is the fraternal twin brother of the silver yen. What sort of tool decided that they should put a hole in it I can't imagine, but it meant that I got it for a pretty decent price even though it was more than I would have paid if Noble's live bidding was working properly. This might not be fireworks and slack jawed awe for most people but for a modem history student it's pretty cool. This is a retirement certificate for a German major in the interwar period. Because it's a ceremonial piece the signiatures are very elegant and bold. The big one at the bottom is Von Hindenburg, formerly German field marshal and then reichspresident. This one doesn't have much historical value compared with the one above and certainly the one below, but it might be the coolest thing I've bought dollar for dollar. This is the parade uniform of a soviet lieutenant general, complete with epaulets and badges as well as pants but missing this individuals awards. It really bugs me when things like this are split up, I'm always a little conflicted about the trade in militaria at the best of times and the splitting up of people's medals and other belongings, presumably to maximise profit, doesn't sit well with me. I've recently acquired some soviet medals with some ephemera and had their award booklets translated so I can look into their former owners, I'm hoping one day I can track down their families and return them. If anyone knows whether this sort of parade uniform would have been worn with full medals / ribbons or whether it would have been worn with a board I'd really like to know so I can look out for some awards to fit it with. I suspect that it would be full ribbons and boards here with the parade uniform and a board with their class A uniforms. This is it, the cat's pyjamas, the dogs's bollocks, the thing of resistance. This is letter from the Duke of Wellington, victor of Waterloo, detailing all of his titles. If it was just an order for a new pipe or a note to his secretary it would be cool as hell just for the autograph, but having him spell out all the titles conferred to him that relates so closely to what made him great is pretty special. It doesn't get any bigger in the history of British national heroes, Richard the lionheart, Henry V, Nelson, Wellington and Churchill. The final title her details is the killer, "prince of Waterloo = conferred by the king of the Netherlands.". The autograph itself is on the other slip of paper which was originally part of the envelope, it still bears the stamp for free postage that peers of the realm got. This is just to show off the watermark, very cool paper.
Nice pickup phrenzy. Just a quick history lesson on that trade dollar mate Tribal asian women put holes in them to wear them. They would do this for quite a number of reasons from being status symbols, looks, jewelry, to buying everyday items in hard times. I would trust a trade dollar with a hole in it, than one without for being Authentic any day.
Hi phrenzy If this is no secret what figure did you put on Von Hindenburg paper? Just curious--this is very cool piece of history and thanks for sharing this on SS.
It was only a couple hundred dollars, not bad considering that if I had the money to have everything I wanted I would probably pay nearly that for the signiatures of the minister of defence and chief of the armed forces that are also on the certificate. If you like that then you might like this, it's an autographed English language souvenir copy of the radio speech Dnitz made after Hitler committed suicide and he became leader of the third Reich.
Mate you did very well with that purchase, I would have got it myself if I had been in the running. What is the postage and handling like from Nobles to Radelaide?
