Proxiblog had asked in June for a dedicated coin home page on Proxibid, and the portal delivered that–and much more–in its latest redesign and technology upgrade!

We’re delighted with the new Proxibid redesign, programmed for convenience, security and information.

While the redesign features a new coin home page–more on that later–the best feature of the site is what can be accessed from one bidding window. Almost all the popular functions of the old Proxibid have evolved in the redesign, such as the “My Proxibid” tab at the top of the screen, allowing users to toggle to maximum bids, invoices and specific auctions.

Terms of sale are included in each bidding window, a good reminder for users patronizing multiple auctions. For instance, the buyer’s premium is prominently displayed with each lot so bidders can calculate realized prices when the hammer falls. This is a needed enhancement because now users only need to register once to access and bid on several auctions in one online visit.

The Coins and Currency page is particularly appealing, showcasing auctions and hot lots and providing all manner of information about current and upcoming auctions. (Click the picture to expand and see for yourself.)

The redesign is an elegant digital sister to the recently upgraded bidder application, described earlier this summer in this post.

Proxiblog, in contact with several employees at the Omaha-based company, knows how long and hard they have worked to launch the enhanced site by Monday morning, following this news release by President Ryan Downs. They accomplished it, yet another tribute to the work ethic of this growing Midwestern company. (Time for more raises, Mr. Downs!)

Proxiblog has only a few minor suggestions. Often auctioneers secure top-quality consignments, such as the recent Matthew Bullock Auctioneers session this week. Go through the lots to see the high mint state of most Morgan dollars, for example.

We’d like to see a “next lot” and “previous lot” feature in the main bidding window so that bids can be placed in sequence. Indeed, some auctions number lots 21A, 21B, 21C, etc., and this minor enhancement would handle that efficiently, too.

We’d also like to see a winning lots window following an auction. There’s a reason for that. To enhance security, Proxibid now hides the user name of winning lots after the hammer falls. That’s probably a good idea. But some auction houses take days reporting what was won, and unless a bidder is a good book-keeper, there is no easy way to track winning lots and determine how much, if anything, one owes. That impacts credit card expenditures, especially for coin buyers on Proxibid, who typically will low-ball bids until they know whether their spending maximums have been reached.

Proxibid needs to remember that not all who purchase lots on its portal are collectors.

That said, we’re eager to see what’s next in store technologically and numismatically as Proxibid continues to enhance and improve the portal.

Proxiblog is an independent entity with no connection to the auction portal Proxibid. Our intent is to uphold basic numismatic standards as established by the American Numismatic Association and the National Auctioneer Association and to ensure a pleasurable bidding experience not only on Proxibid but also on similar portals such as iCollector and AuctionZip.