Tag Archives: Scott Auctions

Nearly 20,000 Views, New Rankings!

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Proxiblog’s audience keeps growing with close to 20,000 views worldwide in the past year, as bidders register to read about top coin auction houses. Speaking of which, after points were tallied for consignments, photography, lot descriptions, buyers’ fees, customer service, shipping and numismatic knowledge, we were as surprised as you might be in discovering 5 houses tied for highest scores. Listed alphabetically, they are Capitol Coin Auction, Key Date Coins, Silvertowne Auctions, Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Auction, and Western Auction.

Note: Regular postings to begin on Sunday, Aug. 5.

Beginning next week, we will do spotlight features on each of these houses, noting what makes them so special–including what practices they follow–so that bidders and auctioneers can benefit from our reviews.

Making her debut in our top rankings is Debra Johnson of Auctions Unlimited, which has one of the lowest buyer’s fees on Proxibid at 10% and which also dropped transparency notices. Midwest Coins also did likewise, and we’re happy to include this fine Iowa house in our rankings. Braden Auction Service also enters our top houses in the sidebar to the right.

While the competition in the Coins and Currency page on Proxibid continued to grow, Proxiblog’s audience also grew in the same five-month time period. Our audience is closing in on 20,000 views. The United States, by far, provided most of that audience; however, Proxiblog’s popularity is growing in Canada, Philippines, India, the United Kingdom and Australia.

The most accessed articles were “California Gold, real, replica and fake” and “Beware Dipped Coins.”

The most popular pages were “Boos and Booyahs!” and “Honor Roll.”

In the past five months we also had 18 total sponsors, with several sponsoring Proxiblog for several weeks and donating funds to our scholarship account. Sponsors include:

We thank these auction companies and numismatic publications for sponsoring Proxiblog’s scholarship fund to help ease student debt and create the next generation of auction-house bidders! If you would like to sponsor a week’s worth of Proxiblog, email mjbugeja@yahoo.com

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More Viewers, New Rankings

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As Proxiblog grew yet again to 18,000+ views since inception, and more than 4,000 in the past three months, competition in the Coin and Currency page of Proxibid has heated up significantly with top houses improving photography, lowering buyer’s fees and securing top consignments.

As far as audience goes, most views came from the United States followed by Canada, India, United Kingdom and the Philippines, with viewers from 60 other countries logging in at one time or another in the second quarter of 2012.

The five-part series on Proxibid vs. eBay by far was the most viewed item on the site followed by our Articles and Boos and Booyahs pages.

Moreover, several auction companies have donated $1000 for scholarships for the next generation of bidders, including Auctions Unlimited, ClickCoins, Coin Update, Engstrom Auction, GreatCollections, Kaufman Realty and Auctions, James Peterson Company, Key Date Coins, Krause Auctioneering, Leonard Auction, Matthew Bullock Auctioneers, Scott Auctions, Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Auction, and Western Auction.

Those and other houses are featured on our popular “On the Block” page.

Several of those houses also vied for top spots on our rankings. We judge companies by sharp and expandable photos, quick and inexpensive shipping, accurate lot descriptions, reasonable buyers’ fees, customer service and quality consignments.

Competition has never been keener. Silvertowne Auctions, which recently instituted timed auctions to accompany its several live sessions per month, held on to first-place status, but just barely, with five other auction houses only one point behind, essentially tied in second-place.

Rising toward the top was Southwest Bullion with its zero percent buyers’ fee, good photos, flat-rate quick shipping and numismatically savvy lot descriptions.

Consistently excellent sessions with choice consignments were held by innovative houses Weaver, Western and Key Date Coins. New to the top 10 is Capitol Coin Auctions, which lowered buyers’ fees and features some of the top consignments on the portal with numismatic lot descriptions, superior photography (among the best on the portal) and excellent service.

Leonard Auction shares many of the same attributes as Capitol. Six of the top 10 companies are run by auctioneers, and four by coin dealers.

Although several new houses are coming online in the Coins and Currency pages, including ones with 10% or lower buyers’ fees and flat-rate shipping, the rest of our top 20 have been competing now for months, with Honor Roll standards and cherry consignments. Fox Valley Coins makes its first appearance on our top rankings list.

Finally, you’ll note on top of the sidebar rankings an important observation concerning our criteria. Auction houses in our top 20 do not see maximum bids or allow ghost-bidding by auctioneers or employees. All rankings are based on Proxiblog buying experience to establish informed opinion. While other bidders’ experience may differ from ours or our mini-reviews, and while all such reviews are in part subjective, we wanted our bidders to know that we are ranking companies based on actual buying on 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.

Boos & Booyahs: Best & Bad Auctioneer Lot Descriptions

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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 GWS Auctions for noting that the slab of this coin may have been tampered with. We know unscrupulous persons routinely open, extract and replace coins without breaking holders and even re-glue so that evidence is concealed. But it is not always easy to tell. Sometimes people try to crack open coins for resubmission and decide against that halfway through the process. Brigitte Kruse alerts the bidding audience that the slab has damage, advising to bid accordingly.

One Big Booyah to BidAlot Coin Auction for noting that this coin is holdered by a bottom-tier slabber, also advising to bid accordingly. We have seen some auctioneers quote MS66 and higher Red Book retail prices for basic silver melt coins.

Boo! to this unnamed auctioneer who hypes one of the bottom-tier slabs, claiming that the common 1900-O Morgan is rare and that this may be a good deal when the buyer is close to being cheated in our estimation. Don’t pretend to know coins when you do this.

Booyah! to Larry Fuller at Silvertowne Auctions for not only exposing the bottom-tier slab but also for giving a truer grade. These hyped slabs give the hobby a bad name; Larry makes it all better.

Boo! to this unnamed auction house for hyping what looks like a $50 Morgan as super-rare and perhaps worth the ridiculous price of $6000 on the flip. We wish Proxibid would create a badge for laughable lot descriptions. But this really isn’t a laughing matter, especially if a bidder is a novice and falls for this untrustworthy hype.

Boo! to this auctioneer who showcases a 1922 No D cent whose reverse has three types–two cheap, one rare. When are auction houses on Proxibid ever going to learn that we need photos of obverse and reverse?

Boo! to this unnamed auction house for failing to show the reverse of purported California gold, without which we cannot discern genuine from replica with a price difference in the hundreds!

Boo! YET AGAIN to another unnamed auction house for failing to show the reverse of purported California gold. It may be gold, and that just might make it a counterfeit, which violates the Proxibid user agreement. For more information about California gold, click here.

One Big Booyah! to Scott Strosnider at Scott Auctions for noting a coin might be buffed and therefore damaged and not worth a high bid. Scott’s known for integrity. This is just one example.

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.

We Applaud Proxibid’s Quality Control Badges

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Increasingly online portals whose entire livelihood relies on the Internet audience will have to exert greater quality control over auction houses catering to onsite audiences or taking numismatic shortcuts. To combat those and other negative attributes–and to keep up with eBay’s ever stricter quality controls–Proxibid has tolled out quality control badges noting APN Clearance, Shipping Policies, Low Buyer’s Premium, Lot Description Accuracy, and Complaint Rate

APN Clearance is as important as ever in using credit card purchases with ease and security. (Watch for a post on the downside of using PayPal.) Shipping, Low Buyer’s Premium, Lot Description Accuracy and Complaint Rate have been quality control issues that Proxiblog has monitored since launching this site in May 2011.

We now are approaching 20,000 views because of our focus on quality control for both auctioneer and bidder, in addition to our numismatic knowledge as a buyer and seller on Proxibid.

We applaud Jason Nielson, quality control exec, and his Proxibid team for instituting these much-needed badges. And one more thing: Because Proxibid now is covering with badges much of what we covered in our Honor Roll page, we now will include superior houses with higher than 15% buyer’s fees in our sidebar rankings. We’re putting a greater emphasis on quality of consignments, shipping, customer service and lack of transparency notices. Watch for a post on that in the near future.

Our reasoning is simple: While we advocate for low buyer’s fees, some of the best numismatic catalogs are being posted by Leonard Auction, Capitol Coin Auction, Scott Auctions, Fox Valley and others. They will qualify for our Best on Proxibid rankings.

Beginning next week, however, we will exclude from our sidebar rankings all auctions that see maximum bids or allow auctioneer/consignor bidding. There is just no place for either. Auctioneers should know grey sheet values. If a bid doesn’t reach it, they can pass on it. An auctioneer should NEVER ghost-bid (raise the bid even though no buyer has). And finally, a house can allow a consignor to bid on an item, but if the consignor wins, he bought it, meaning he has to pay both consignor and buyer fees. That will discourage shell-bidding entirely.

We’ll end with photos of each badge and the Proxibid description:

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.

Happy 1st Birthday to Us! Proxiblog surpasses 15000 views in 6 months!

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We will let this map speak for itself–click to expand–showing 3400 views in the past six weeks with 15000 worldwide views in the past six months. We thank our auctioneers, our sponsors and Proxibid bidders.

In one year we have posted 200 articles and 450 photos. Our worldwide viewership is growing in Canada, Great Britain, India, the Philippines, and Australia.

We have advocated successfully for transparency notices, counterfeit detection, quality photos on both sides of the coin, accurate lot descriptions and so much more.

There is a virtual book in Online Auctioneering on our Articles Page. Our most popular page is “Boos and Booyahs.”

We also have raised more than $1000 in the past six weeks for our scholarship fund!

We want to thank our scholarship sponsors, which include Weaver Auction, Western Auction, Key Date Coins, Scott Auctions, Leonard Auction, GreatCollections, ClickCoins, Coin Update News, Engstrom Auction, James Peterson Auction and Krause Auctioneering. If you would like to sponsor a week’s worth of Proxiblog, email us

Also, we now list 90 auction houses on our Honor Roll page. When we launched this site in May 2011, we only had 11 such houses, an indication of the competition that exists now on the portal.

Finally, we want to thank all of our viewers, our auctioneers, bidders and Proxibid employees who patronize our site. We rely on you and appreciate you more than you know, as you are contributing mightily to the hobby and helping auction houses and coin dealers transition to the Internet.

These Houses Can Grade!

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This is the second installment about the need for coin auctioneers to understand grading. The first listed the Do’s and Don’ts of grading. This cites houses that described raw coins so accurately that PCGS, the most rigorous holdering company in the business, agreed with their grades when Proxiblog sent the coins in for authentication.

Silvertowne: 1880-CC. Lot desccribed coin as MS62-63; coin returned by PCGS, MS62.

Matthew Bullock Auctioneers: 1883-O MS64DMPL; coin returned by PCGS, MS64DMPL.

Leonard Auction: 1903 PCGS Old Green Holder, MS64, possible upgrade; coin returned by PCGS, MS65.

Capitol Coin Auction: 1885-O, rainbow color, MS63; coin returned by PCGS MS63.

Fox Valley Coins: 1991-CC, MS64; coin returned by PCGS, MS64.

We have had similar luck with certain auctions sending to NGC, among them, Manor Auctions, Kreuger and Kreuger, Key Date Coins and Engstrom Auction. We have come close on occasion at NGC or PCGS (within a point) with Western, Weaver, Arneson, Meares, Scott and Kaufman auctions.

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.

Proxiblog Goes International: New Rankings and Sponsors

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In as much as Proxibid registers bidders from around the world, small wonder that Proxiblog–which covers the portal’s coin auctions–also should go global. Click picture to expand, and you will see where our 1500-plus views came from in the first 21 days of March.

Our site has logged 13,000 views in the past six months. What does this mean for those who follow our blog?

First of all, those who have sponsored a week’s posts on Proxiblog–GreatCollections, Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Auction, Western Auction, James Peterson, Krause Auctioneering, Leonard Auction and Scott Auctions, to name a few–are getting their “donation’s worth.” Companies that sponsor our site for a week simply visit this link and typically make a tax-deductible donation from $10-$1000.

This week we will feature our first numismatic publication, Coin Update, as official sponsor.

Our most popular posts include “Boos and Booyahs,” “Articles” page (a virtual text in online auctioneering), and the series on “Consignor Viewing and Maximum Bid” policies.

All the while we have been keeping track of coin auctions, sparking new rankings in the right sidebar. Several of these auction companies are thriving because of ever better consignments, sharper expandable photos, inexpensive shipping and monthly specials.

All meet our Honor Roll standards of 15% or lower buyer’s fee. These houses also typically invest in APN clearance and schedule regular coin auctions, in some cases, a half dozen or more per month.

Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Auction remains doggedly in first place, primarily because Dave and Cheryl Weaver surprise us each month, be it with snappy online advertisements, shipping specials, expert photography, accurate lot descriptions, and low online buyer’s fees (10%, with occasional discounts on gold).

Western Auction continues to hold on to second place with superior consignments, photography and quick, inexpensive shipping.

We’ve seen continuous improvement in Meares and Rolling M. Auctions, with Engstrom Auctions gearing up for more enhancements in the coming weeks, soliciting bidder feedback–nice touch, that!

Other top-ranked houses typically do not see prebids or allow consignor bidding. We still include those in our rankings because of our own transparency about that, especially our top-viewed series on the topic, as referenced above.

If you are an auctioneer, we hope you will continue to visit Proxiblog for best practices. If you are a bidder, we hope that you will find our posts informative on how and where to spend your numismatic money. And if you are a sponsor, or would like to become one, we thank you on behalf of college students, easing their debt with scholarships and ensuring the next generation of bidders.

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.

Consider Coin Auction Specials

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As Proxibid increases its coin auctions, which we reported in yesterday’s post, more top auction houses are running specials.

Coin auctions are known for monthly specials, whether it be in no-reserve auctions, lower buyer’s fee, flat-rate or even free shipping, and other promotions to recruit bidders.

Before sharing a few samples, we want to remind you to showcase your own specials in the header section featured on Proxibid’s "Coin and Currency" page. We've seen specials buried in terms of service.

See how Cece’s Sales and Key Date Coins announce their specials, featuring no reserve and low buyer’s fee in addition to the featured coins of each session. (Click picture to expand.)

Here are specials running this week or that just concluded:

No Reserve Specials

Midwest Coins: Certified coins throughout! Copper to Silver, Proof/Mint sets, & other coin type sets. NO RESERVE! 100% ONLINE only, SUNDAY at 6 PM CST!!! Prebid now or join us LIVE!!!!

Hradil Auction: Type Coins, Morgan Dollars, Peace Dollars, Bullion, Graded Coins, Key Dates, Gold, Silver Eagles, Absolute Sale, All Items Change Ownership Day of Auction, No minimum, No Reserves, No Shills.

Compare the allure of specials above to these announcements in the header section by three auction companies:

  • “Collectibles, coins, sportscards, jewelry and more.”
  • “Sports Memorabilia, Jewelry,Coins & Collectibles”
  • “Morgan and Silver DOLLARS!!!!!!”


Low Buyer’s Premium

Auctions Unlimited: “Coin & Currency Auction Only 10% BP”

Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Auction: “New Lots & Images added daily. Special emphasis on Silver Dollars. Many Key Date Coins. Classic Currency. LOW 10% Buyer Premium, 5% on Gold 1 oz or $20 Eagles.”

Compare to: “Internet Buyer’s Premium: 22 %; Sales Tax: 5.000% – Tax may apply to the total invoice, including Buyer’s Premium.”

Inexpensive shipping

Scott Auction: 100+ SILVER MORGAN & PEACE SILVER DOLLARS – 1921 & (2) 1928 KEY DATE PEACE $ – $300 X 90% & $100X 40% SILVER – MINT & PROOF SETS – COPPERS & CURRENCY + MUCH MORE w/ **********$1O SHIPPING*************

Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Page: March Special: Buy More, Save More! Flat $9 Insured Shipping Fee with NO extra Handling Charge-No Matter How Much You Buy.

Compare to: “There will be a $5.00 shipping fee per item.”

Specials not only attract and retain bidders, but also publicize to competitors that you are doing just fine. Don’t underestimate the message that sends to clientele. When you’re confident, sellers consign and buyers bid with confidence!

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.

Shipping Policies Influence Internet Sales

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Inexpensive, quick shipping is one of the Honor Roll requirements at Proxiblog. We’re showcasing four proactive shipping policies and four we hadn’t seen before.

Before Amazon got its shipping policies in order, it lost money. Same goes for other successful Internet portals. Proxibid depends on auctioneers to satisfy online bidders after a sale. Internet sales rely on convenient use of credit cards with sharp photography and, most important, reliable shipping. Some Proxibid houses understand this.

Case in point: Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Auction, our top house, is running a special in March: A flat $9 insured shipping fee with no handling charges–no matter how much you buy!

Unlike Weaver auction and a few others featured here, some Proxibid houses have not come around quite yet to the importance of shipping when doing business online.

Below are a sampling of policies. Which ones do you think would entice business from Internet coin buyers?

One of the most concise shipping policies–plus other bidder-friendly features–comes from Charles Commander at Midwest Coins:

  • 15% Buyers Premium – CASH OR CREDIT!!! $10 FLAT RATE FEE TOTAL- NOT PER LOT, for shipping/handling/ and packaging costs, includes insurance, 1 WEEK SHIPPING(US only)! COINS/CURRENCY WANTED! Want to consign? Call today! 319-520-5091 CHARLES COMMANDER

Scott Strosnider was among first to use the flat rate shipping policy. His Scott Auction policy ranks among the best on Proxibid, especially when he is featuring a huge bullion, bar and junk silver coin sale, as he did earlier this month. If those pounds of metal fit, they ship from Scott inexpensively, and with insurance, too.

  • COIN AUCTION SHIPPING: WE SHIP ALL COINS USPS WITH FULL INSURANCE COVERAGE. OUR SHIPPING IS STILL THE BEST @ $1O PLUS 0NE DOLLAR PER HUNDRED DOLLARS INSURANCE.

Rolling M Auctions also ranks among the most reasonable on the portal. Mark Murphy’s regular monthly auctions are enhanced not only by consignments but by quick shipping as well.

  • Shipping Instructions: United States Postal Service, Priority Flat Rate. $11.00-includes shipping, packing & handling, delivery confirmation & Insurance.

Western Auction has a reasonable shipping rate that increases with amount purchased. Dave Zwonitzer’s main concern is ensuring that your coins arrive as securely as possible.

  • Shipping Instructions: Buyer is responsible for shipping costs. If less than 5 coins are purchased then the freight will be $6.00 and if five or more are purchased then the total freight will be $15.00. If the total purchases are more than $500.00 then an additional $10.00 will be added and the package will be sent registered mail.

Here are some newer shipping policies that we read before deciding whether to bid–a practice we highly recommend for newcomers to the portal.

Tonya Cameron Auctions, like several on the portal, rely on third-party shippers, even though the house has APN clearance, an issue we have written about before on Proxiblog.

  • Shipping Instructions: We do not Ship. Shipping is the responsibility of the buyer. We have had good results with A.J. Yanakakis at the UPS Store 15 Lincoln Street, Wakefield, MA -781-224-2500 or fax -781-224-2566 email store4423@theupsstore.com- http://www.theupsstorelocal.com/4423 Buyer can also arrange independant shipper of his / her choice.

We were curious about the shipping policy at Bidder USA, which designated the fee (per lot) in each item description in a recent auction. Click picture to expand. We telephoned and were told that typically with smalls like coins the auctioneer would bundle low-value items so that shipping was much more reasonable.

  • There will be a $5.00 shipping fee per item. All total purchases over $100 will receive free shipping.

We have patronized Hampton House before and had our items shipped, so this below policy also caught our collective eye.

  • Shipping is the sole responsibility of the buyer. Our staff my assist but is not responsibile for packing, handling, or shipping your purchases. Invoice must be paid in full before orders will be shipped. Actual Shipping costs will be charged to credit card separately and are non-refundable. Funds for payments made by check must clear before order can be shipped. Items are shipped in the order that full payment is received. NOTE: Due to Amount of Items Sold in Our Auctions It May Take 7-14 Days For the Items to be Shipped From When Payment Is Received. Your shipper will be required to produce identification and authorization from you to have your property released to them as your agent.

On the other hand, United Country River Bend did try to make an exception for coins, as this policy indicates below.

  • Merchandise will be shipped via USPS. We have stated in previous auctions that we do not ship via postal service however we are making an exception with coins and jewelry. All other items will be taken to the UPS Store in Beckley for shipping. Purchasers are solely responsible for all shipping and handling charges. Do not bid if you are not willing to pay ALL the shipping charges as your credit card on file will be charged for the items regardless. PLEASE NOTE FOR THIS AUCTION A $3.00 HANDLING FEE PER PACKAGE WILL APPLY TO THE PURCHASER FOR ALL SHIPMENTS BY THE US POSTAL SERVICE IN ADDITION TO THE POSTAGE AND INSURANCE CHARGES.

Of course we realize that shipping can be a hassle. We ship items to our customers, too, in addition to sending coins to slabbing companies and consigments to auctioneers. But few services are as essential in the Internet business than inexpensive, safe, quick shipping. As for the hundreds of bidders reading Proxiblog, we strongly encourage you to read shipping policies of all houses and patronize those that meet our Honor Roll criteria.

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

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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.)

Booyah Scott Auction! for noting the rim ding and its position. These flaws are enough to keep an otherwise good-looking coin from being graded by top houses PCGS, ICG, ANACS and NGC. The flaws aren’t always apparent in photos, so auctioneer’s reputation is enhanced by noting them in the lot description.

Boo! to this unnamed auction house that takes a photo so dark as to make extremely difficult any type of online evaluation. If you’re going to sell on Proxibid, get your photography in order … or get off the portal because you’ll be losing money for your consignors (and yourself).

Baloney! Deep Mirror? One unnamed auction house labeled more than a dozen uncirculated coins “deep mirror,” probably because that designation sells coins or because the auctioneer doesn’t know numismatics. For a coin to be deep mirror, it has to reflect 6 or more inches a 12-14-point piece of type so that the words are readable. Few, if any, of these coins qualified in the auction.

Booyah Brian’s Auction Service! for noting a probable grade (I think it’s too generous) on coins in this holder, all too prevalent on Proxibid. What’s worse, we’ve seen auctioneers cite PCGS values for coins that should sell with a slight premium over silver melt.

Booyah Brian’s Auction Service! once again for noting cleaning of this particular coin, although the photo shows little evidence of cleaning, again enhancing the auctioneer’s numismatic honesty.

Booyah Weaver Auction! for noting the correct designation of California gold, which often is just a dipped brass replica with a bear on the reverse, hyped by unknowing auctioneers to be genuine gold of a very desirable series … but one also fraught with fakes. This is a credit to Dave Weaver for taking the additional time to identify the item, another indication why Weaver’s is maintaining its top Proxiblog ranking.

Boo! to this unnamed auction house that seems to miss the fact that “genuine” on PCGS labels means ungradeable but authentic (not fake). This is a clear example of chemical treatment. To learn about artificial toning–altering of coins–click here.

Boo! to this unnamed auction house for noting that a coin is slabbed but withholding information about the particular slabbing company. If you say a coin is slabbed, show the picture AND the certification number. As we have seen on Proxibid all too often, self-slabbed overhyped coins are usually worth only a small premium over melt.

Booyah Gary Ryther Auctioneers! for identifying an illegally altered key date coin and explaining how it was done so hobbyists and bidders can learn how to spot them. Some bidders collect doctored coins so that they can identify the various methods of fraudulent alteration.

Boo! to this unnamed auction house for believing this is an expensive coin rather than a Morgan retaining a little cartwheel effect after being lightly circulated and dinged. On the other hand, you can sense that this auctioneer is smitten with Morgan dollars. Wait until he sees a real “deep mirror” coin!

Boo! to this unnamed auction house hyping as “deep mirror” an ordinary coin and then getting the designation wrong. You can’t have an extra-fine coin that reflects 6-8 inches a strip of 12-14-point type. Let’s please stop identifying coins as deep mirror. They are truly rare. That’s why they command high prices … and why few auction houses ever see them.

Booyah Key Date Coins! for noting that a coin has been dipped, difficult to detect in digital photos because the surface of the coin contains small grains and dull finish and usually has to be identified via a loop with good lighting.

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.