Tag Archives: Auction Orange

New Rankings, 25000+ Views!

Posted on by

Competition among top coin-selling houses on Proxibid has been so keen that we have gone to a 0.5 system, meaning that a half point separates one seller from another. Only one scored tops in all categories: quality consignments, detailed descriptions, quick and inexpensive shipping, superior photography, expert grading, reasonable buyer’s premium and other value-added considerations. Not only is competition growing, our audience is too, surpassing 25,000 views.

Capitol Coin Auction features some of the best numismatic estate auctions on the portal. Unlike other houses, it does not run auctions every week or other week and so creates an event with key date coinage, holdered rarities and exquisite gold. Moreover, as we noted in this recent post, Brad Lisembee ranks among the best graders in the business with John Leonard of Leonard Auction, Larry Fuller of SilverTowne Auction and Sean Cook of Liberty Shops Auctions.

Ranked ever so close behind at 24.5 each were Western, Leonard, SilverTowne, Key Date Coins and Weaver Signature Coin and Currency auctions. Returning to top-house status is Fox Valley Coins, which had dropped from our rankings because of infrequent Proxibid auctions. Its November auction was one of the highlights on the portal.

Essentially, you should have an exciting time in the spirit of traditional auctioneering bidding in any auction by these top-houses.

New on the list this month are Jackson’s Auction, Auction Orange, and Star Coin and Currency, all offering regular good consignments with expandable photography and other amenities. Star Coin, for instance, ships inexpensively and quickly.

Some houses fell in the ranking because of slow shipping; others, problem coins, poor grading and/or inadequate descriptions.

What surprises us about these monthly rankings is how little an auction house actually has to do to improve its online brand and competition. In some cases, it means taking a little more time with descriptions; in others, investing in a better camera; in several, focusing more on shipping.

We have been receiving emails and comments about slow shipping. One auction routinely takes 2-3 weeks; some, we have to cajole through Proxibid customer service to pack their wares and ship. One auctioneer, asked about a tardy delivery, simply replied: “Already shipped out.” That’s nice, but when did it ship out and what is the tracking number?

In our opinion, slow or outsourced shipping, poor photography and inadequate descriptions are signs that a house has not yet adapted–or is unwilling to adapt–to the Internet.

Online buyers expect:

  • Rapid shipping with professional packing.
  • Sharp, expandable photos of both sides of a coin.
  • Accurate lot descriptions.

Given the convenience of flat-rate shipping with packages picked up at your door, we’re flummoxed when houses take 3-4 weeks to send out coins. If you cannot do basic photography with the type of enhanced, low-cost equipment at your disposal, including cell phones, then you are short-changing yourselves and your consignors. And you simply cannot schedule multiple coin auctions per month and then claim you are not a coin expert.

Bulletin: You are a coin dealer–so read up, go to coin shows, join your local coin club!

That said, our rankings are reviews of favorite houses based on our buying and/or selling experience and numismatic expertise. Your experience with our top houses may differ from ours. Our intent is to educate and praise whenever possible–to our own buying detriment, at times! We have seen when we showcase an auction house how bidding becomes more intense, often edging out our own bids.

Perhaps this is due to the rise in our viewership to an all-time high of 25,267. Half of that total came in the past six months, with the majority of those from the United States, Canada and India, as this graphic shows.

sixmonthview

The favorite and most accessed page? “Boos and Booyahs.” The all-time most favorite post? “California Gold: Real, Replica and Fake,” which gets on average a dozen views per week from all over the world, indicating once again that auctioneers need to take care before they label those tiny yellow tokens “gold.”

Moreover, we also surpassed 100 auction houses on our Honor Roll whose buyer premiums and customer service are appreciated.

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.

Advertisement

Boos & Booyahs: Best & Bad Auctioneer Lot Descriptions

Posted on by

It’s important to be in sync with the Proxibid technology to showcase your photos, hone your lot descriptions, and highlight your consignments for top bids on the leading portal! In the latest installment, Proxiblog laments and compliments best and bad auctioneer lot descriptions during the past week. We will name the best, but you will have to search Proxibid for the bad. (Click pictures to expand and view lot descriptions below.)

One Big Booyah to Key Date Coin Auction not only for providing one of the best lot descriptions, showing Eddie Caven’s prowess as a numismatist–from VAMS to incredibly sharp photos–but also for his questioning the condition of this rare Carson City coin. He identifies one of the most difficult aspects of grading: cabinet rub. We always bid with confidence at Key Date because of observations like this.

Booyah Auction Orange! for warning his bidders about these bottom-tier slabs that list every worn or cleaned coins as MS66 or MS67. Some Proxibid auctioneers even cite Red Book values for silver-melt or problem coins in hyped holders. Auction Orange doesn’t fall for it, but gains our trust because of the lot description. Nice!

Booyah yet again to Auction Orange! for noting that the coin depicted here probably is a counterfeit. With tens of thousands of counterfeit coins flooding the market from China, some really are difficult to identify. In this case, the auctioneer has spotted something that doesn’t look right. We think it might be the weight or the attempt to make the coin look circulated. In any case, we value once again how the auctioneer gains our trust.

Booyah Weaver Auction! for noting that this coin is a replica. Dave Weaver’s lot descriptions are reliable and appreciated. We caution Proxibid auctioneers to do as Dave has done here and identify these as “replicas,” NOT “tokens.” For more on California fractional gold, click here.

Boo! to this unnamed auction house that cites “full bell lines” in the Proxibid title when the NGC slab doesn’t indicate such. FBL means the bottom lines of the liberty bell on the reverse of Franklin halves are visible and unbroken. The difference between a slab having and not having the designation can be substantial. If you disagree with the designation on the slab, then state why in your lot description.

Booyah Southwest Bullion! for noting what is difficult to see in the digital picture, an alteration of a coin, “tooled,” involving use of a machine to smooth a flaw–a serious possibly fraudulent infraction by some owner in this coin’s long history. Tooling has been done for decades and is difficult to detect, so the consignor probably didn’t even realize this. We’re glad Southwest Bullion did!

Booyah Topless Coins! for noting that this coated 1943 cent is magnetic, meaning it is not copper worth tens of thousands but is steel with copper plate. Nobody got rich on this coin, but we’re richer for Topless doing a magnetic test!

Viewers can point us to other candidates for our “Boos & Booyahs!” series. Just leave a comment but follow our rules–all in good fun as a way to inspire accurate lot descriptions on Proxibid.

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.

Boos & Booyahs: Best & Bad Auctioneer Lot Descriptions

Posted on by

It’s important to be in sync with the Proxibid technology to showcase your photos, hone your lot descriptions, and highlight your consignments for top bids on the leading portal! In the latest installment, Proxiblog laments and compliments best and bad auctioneer lot descriptions during the past week. We will name the best, but you will have to search Proxibid for the bad. (Click pictures to expand and view lot descriptions below.)

One Big Booyah to Capitol Coin Auction for this comprehensive lot description about an encased collection of Morgan dollars. Others might have just left the description at that, but Capitol evaluates each coin and gives a best-guess estimate so that bidders gain knowledge before placing their maximums. Moreover, the auctioneer accompanies that comprehensive lot description with sharp, expandable photos. We can ask for nothing more!

Booyah! to GWS Auctions for jam-packing this lot description with mintage, value, variety and condition. We’ve noticed other auction houses beginning to do the same as an indicator of numismatic integrity. We’re happy to see it!

Booyah! to Liberty Shops for catching a tell-tale mark of a counterfeit coin, even one that the forger made using silver. Some might not put such a coin on the market, but some hobbyists and coin clubs purchase counterfeits as educational tools to help identify fraudulent coins put up for auction or sale.

Booyah Weaver Auction! for noting that this coin has been whizzed, or tooled, even though the flip only says “cleaned”–with a question mark. We have no question that this coin has been whizzed, and we complement Dave Weaver for identifying it in the lot description. (Larger photo used here so that viewers can see the tell-tale smoothing on Lady Liberty’s cheek.)

Booyah Auction Orange! for identifying a scratch on this rare 1914-D cent, a key date. The scratch was small and might have been missed by a bidder. By calling attention to it, the auctioneer is ensuring that the buyer should have few complaints. That’s why lot descriptions are so important.

Booyah Key Date Coins! for challenging the information on the flip and reporting that the coin, a key date 1949-D Franklin half, is NOT almost uncirculated but has been cleaned. This is why Eddie Caven continues to be among the most conscientious on Proxibid. We applaud his numismatic integrity!

Boo! to this auctioneer for calling a brass replica a California gold token. Yes, there are gold tokens, made as souvenirs in the 1930s, but they have distinct markings and need to be tested for gold content and weight. While we’re at it, every auction selling jewelry and coins should purchase a gold tester precisely for this sort of thing.

One Final Booyah! to Weaver Auction for correcting identifying an authentic California gold quarter dollar, as the reverse of the lot shows. Don’t be fooled by consignors selling fake California gold. Use this post as your reference.

Viewers can point us to other candidates for our “Boos & Booyahs!” series. Just leave a comment but follow our rules–all in good fun as a way to inspire accurate lot descriptions on Proxibid.

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.

Boos & Booyahs: Best & Bad Auctioneer Lot Descriptions

Posted on by

It’s more important now than ever with the new Proxibid redesign to showcase your photos, hone your lot descriptions, and showcase your consignments for top bids on the leading portal! In the latest installment, Proxiblog laments and compliments best and bad auctioneer lot descriptions during the past week. We will name the best, but you will have to search Proxibid for the bad. (Click pictures to expand and view lot descriptions below.)

Booyah Silvertowne! for the care that went into this description, noting that the coin was probably dug from the ground but still had positive attributes. Silvertowne continues to grade well and honestly depict consignments.

Boo! to this unnamed auctioneer who knows numismatics and doesn’t call this Morgan artificially colored. That chemical bull’s eye on the reverse is a dead giveaway.

Boo! to an auction house who sells another more obvious artificially colored coin with telltale bull’s eye.

Booyah! to Auction Orange for describing accurately one of the worst cases of self-slabbing grades we have seen. Avoid these coins at all costs … or it will cost you!

Booyah! again to Auction Orange for identifying another sel-slabber.

Booyah! to Silver Trades offering to buyback a coin if it doesn’t grade. That’s a good sign the coin is worth a premium.

Boo! to an unnamed auctioneer who covers the certification number of a coin with a sticker.

Booyah! to Key Date Coins for describing the condition of a GSA box. Most auctioneers just sticker them to oblivion, even though the box is a collectible, too!

Boo! and Booyah! to this unnamed auction house that notes rainbow color on the reverse (THANK YOU!) but doesn’t also show the reverse (SIGH).

Boo! to this unnamed auctioneer who hypes a beautiful coin that also is damaged and ungradable.

Boo! to this auction house that wins a prize for making an uncirculated Morgan dollar look undesirable. Grainy picture. Stickered. Upsidedown. When will auctioneers who sell online learn to take care with their photos?

Booyah! to Weaver Signature Coin Auction for noting four folds in this currency, which also erodes value.

Viewers can point us to other candidates for our “Boos & Booyahs!” series. Just leave a comment but follow our rules–all in good fun as a way to inspire accurate lot descriptions on Proxibid.

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.