Coin auctions. Who writes the descriptions, the consignee or the auction house?

[Richym99]

Wasn't sure where to post this, but as I only buy gold sovs, move it if you want.

I have only ever bought two coins at auction, and in both cases, the coin description undersold the coins worth (to my advantage as a buyer I will add). 

It got me thinking though. If I consigned what I know is a rare coin for auction, do I get a say in how it is cataloged and what recourse does a seller have if a coin is poorly described? 

[Foster88]

I would say the descriptions are written by the auction house. You’ll find that most general antique auctions will sell sovereigns too and many don’t really know what they’re selling. That’s not to say all auction houses are the same of course.

If you wanted to sell through auction I don’t see why they wouldn’t use your advice/knowledge for the description.

I had to contact an auction house a few months ago who I’ve bought from before to tell them that they’d made a big error. I didn’t want to buy them.

The catalogue said “1923 Edward VII sovereign” and “1918 Edward VII Sovereign” which was a 1913. I’ll let you work out the other error. 🙄

Some auction houses are good but I’ve also noticed many fail to mention the branch mint marks in the descriptions too.

[Richym99]

In fairness, these were two coin orientated companies. 

The first was understandable, especially if the seller hadn't pointed out the over-strike in the date. Even I missed it first time, because was looking for something else.

The second was harder to understand, as it was a graded coin, with the slab clearly showing the variant as a rarity (R5 in Marsh). There was no mention of the Marsh rating, the mintage showing as over 2 million, instead of the accepted sub 14,000 that were minted in that year with those dies. They showed the NGC population as 61, when the NGC had graded only 3 of that variant. (And I would love to know who has the AU58). 

If I were the seller and knew this, I might be a little annoyed.  

[Rll1288]

11 hours ago, Richym99 said:

In fairness, these were two coin orientated companies. 

The first was understandable, especially if the seller hadn't pointed out the over-strike in the date. Even I missed it first time, because was looking for something else.

The second was harder to understand, as it was a graded coin, with the slab clearly showing the variant as a rarity (R5 in Marsh). There was no mention of the Marsh rating, the mintage showing as over 2 million, instead of the accepted sub 14,000 that were minted in that year with those dies. They showed the NGC population as 61, when the NGC had graded only 3 of that variant. (And I would love to know who has the AU58). 

If I were the seller and knew this, I might be a little annoyed.  

be nice to know what year it was 🙂 ... I sure my AU58 isn't the rare one haha

[Richym99]

9 minutes ago, Rll1288 said:

be nice to know what year it was 🙂 ... I sure my AU58 isn't the rare one haha

1891M Short Tail. 

[Rll1288]

👍 Nice... and unfortunately not one I have haha

Edited July 2, 2021 by Rll1288

[KevjustKev]

If an auction house sells something, they will try to get as much info from the seller then check it themselves. Or course things can always slip through.

[dicker]

Definitely the auction house from what I have seen.  My local well respected auction house definitely does the description but with background from the seller.  The are far from coin specialists so you get for example  “4 Victoria sovereigns” bundled. Some may be Shields others G&D.  A lot of people go in to look at the coins and make their own judgements.  

[Richym99]

Rather than local auctioneers, I am talking mainly about companies running national on line auctions, where their primary business is the buying and selling of coins. 

[Foster88]

1 hour ago, dicker said:

Definitely the auction house from what I have seen.  My local well respected auction house definitely does the description but with background from the seller.  The are far from coin specialists so you get for example  “4 Victoria sovereigns” bundled. Some may be Shields others G&D.  A lot of people go in to look at the coins and make their own judgements.  

That is what I quite like about some auctions selling sovereigns. The hunt for those rarities amongst the general bullion sovereigns. I suppose it’s down to The the seller and the auction house to make sure they know what they’re selling.

Despite my comment above, I did tell my local auction about the mistake as I get on well with them and had no intention to bid. Apart from that it’s part of the fun finding a rarity not described as such.