Auction Houses frequently selling Early Dated and Other Medieval Coins
(And a few ramblings from a frequent participant...)

A good source for early dated coins comes from the major numismatic auction houses in Europe and, to a lesser extent, the USA. The firms usually hold at least two sales a year, and occasionally as many as four or five. The catalogues from these sales can become important reference works in their own right, especially when the sale of a noted numismatist's collection of highly rare or valuable pieces comes on the market. The major firms are happy to help international clients and there are usually customer service personnel on staff able to communicate in English and French at least, in addition to their own native languages. The catalogues are usually printed in the language of the firm's nation, however, but with a multilingual set of pages at the beginning describing the auction's conditions and procedures. Don't let a fear of language difficulties dissuade you from participating! With a little experience and exposure you can quickly learn all the important auction and numismatic terms in any European language you run across.

· Before the sale
A few weeks before the sale date the firms place electronic copies of their catalogues online for browsing and e-mail people on their mailing lists that it is available. If you intend to bid by mail or the internet, consider doing so as early as possible because if there are two bids of the same amount, the earlier bid would win the lot.

· Bidding
Bidding via the internet in an international auction is somewhat akin to bidding in EBay with the primary difference of usually having no chance to place a second bid if you are outbid on the floor or by another e-bidder. Most houses place their entire auction listing online and have online bidding options that either function like a "shopping cart" system, or by manually entering the lot numbers and bids into an online form. In the case of very high valued lots the auction houses may be willing to allow you to participate in those lots' bidding by phone but this requires notification from you of your desire to do so, and their approval, beforehand. Most of the firms list their items with an opening bid amount. Almost all them let you underbid that opening amount by a small percentage, typically 10-20%. If you bid less than that, your bid will automatically be void.

· How much should I bid if I can't attend personally?
There is no one answer to this. At the average sale few lots end unsold. Very few early dated coins remain unsold unless their listed opening price was obviously out of line. Almost no multiple coin lots of more than a few pieces go unsold. Here is how the bidding process might work out if you are the only mail-in bid for a piece: A coin is listed with an opening bid of €100, and you place a €100 bid by mail/e-mail. Chances are slim that you will win it unless the coin is a common type that attracts little specialized collector interest. Most likely a bidder on the floor (a coin shop owner, for example) will outbid you by one increment. Since you cannot re-bid, they will win the piece for €110. However, If you had bid perhaps €175 and no other mail-in bids were received, the auctioneer would open the piece at €100. Floor bidders might give up around €130 and you would then win the coin for €140. If a floor bidder really wants the piece badly enough, the auctioneer will keep incrementing the price upwards until finally at €180, they would win the piece by passing your bid. This is where luck, and familiarity with the recent bidding histories of similar coins helps. Use the amazing Coin Archives site and look up earlier sales of a piece you want. Make an educated bid that will net you a good deal, not merely a guaranteed win at too high a price. It's better to walk away and wait for another example to come on the market later unless the coin is truly a once-in-a-decade type of offering.

· After the sale - getting the coins
Once the sale ends, most companies get the listing of prices realized within hours, although some sales ending late Friday might not be posted until Monday. If you are a first time bidder and are successful, the coins will almost certainly be held pending your submission of references listing well-known coin dealers you have done business with, or in expectation of payment in full from you prior to the coins being mailed. The latter is probably the easier option for U.S. customers unless you've been buying from major U.S. auction houses, or dealers in the nation where the auction firm is located. Do not attempt to be deceptive and submit fake references from known dealers that you have never done business with! You can be certain such claims will be checked, especially if the lots you we successful in bidding on are costly. Once established as a customer in good standing, future auction lots won will often be sent to you immediately after the sale with the expectation of payment as soon as possible after you receive them. This does not imply that the auction lots are sent "on approval". Unlike lots purchased from a fixed price list or an online coin shop, returns are not allowed for nearly any auction lot except in the case of proven forgeries, mis-attribution, or other indisputable errors in description. Merely not liking the appearance of or being disappointed in the contents of a lot are almost never valid conditions for returns unless so stipulated in the catalogue's page of conditions.

· After the sale - payment
Payment to the firms is easiest and cheapest by direct wire transfer from your bank account to theirs after you get the invoice. In addition to the winning bid amounts, other charges will appear. The auctioneer's commission from most firms is around 15%. Shipping costs are also the responsibility of the buyer, and the coins are sent fully insured. Most firms take credit cards but will tack on a 3-5% surcharge, and the exchange rate offered credit card companies is practically the worst on the market, often as much as 5% worse than spot. Westfalische Auktions Gesellschaft accepts payment via Paypal, which offers an excellent exchange rate overall, but there is still a surcharge for doing so. If you are buying from the U.S. you do NOT have to pay the the European VAT. Remember to not exceed your budget by simply placing bids up to your total funds without considering the additional charges, you might get lucky and win them all!

THE FIRMS (in no particular order, '*' indicates a firm I have purchased from personally):
I'll add covers when I get them scanned.