As the fall to winter coin auction schedule heats up, the biennial NGSA auction will close out November with its usual lineup of rarities and condition rarities from ancient Greek to medieval European to modern Asian. The Parisii Stater pictured above is perhaps the finest known of this sought after issue. Bids start at 75,000 CHF (swiss francs) which amounts to close to $100,000 dollars all in.
As is so often the case now with top auctions there is also a selections of beautiful medals like that of Louis XIV celebrating his martial victories by J. Rottiers, pictured below. This medal starts to 80,000 CHF.
Obviously, an auction like this appeals to - and caters to - collector/investors at the highest end. Few pieces will be acquired for dealer stock, and fewer still by speculators wishing to flip for a quick profit. This is an auction for those who wish to acquire pieces of the highest rarity that can be considered hard assets that will certainly appreciate over time - as long as there is no need to liquidate.
As always, it will be interesting to see how high the high end investors are willing to push the top pieces. Just as it will be interesting to see which areas will be most benefited by the mass psychology and which areas will present real opportunities.
At Sixbid.com anyone can see the entire lineup of fall/winter auctions. Of course, there are many auctions running coins and medals that are far more accessible to the common collector. Because of the internet everyone now has access to almost everything being offered for sale at any time. One might think that would democratize the process of acquiring these hard assets. But in practice the magnitude of accessible offerings creates interesting distortions that tend to benefit the same small group of knowledgeable participants.
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