09-05-2011 – 01-01-1970
Hype for coins from Thessaly
Hype for coins from Thessaly
Nomos offered in Zurich an important part of the BCD collection: Thessaly. The prices were exorbitant. A stater of Alexander of Pherae was knocked down at 580.000 Swiss Francs, approximately 649.000 $. The collector himself will give us a few impressions of the sale:
This was a very different sale to the last one. One buyer dominated the bidding and most of the buying and this does not give a true picture of the market. Nevertheless the market generally is going through a hype and this is not just because this buyer is making his presence felt. As is usual when new buyers make their presence felt in an aggressive way, there is a lot of resentment from both sides. On the one hand the established dealers see their business shrinking because their old clients refuse to follow the “new prices”. On the other hand the collectors that were buying up to now from the various auctions realize that their chances of being successful are shrinking. It is never a good thing to try and corner the market, no matter how rich you are. What is worse is that such actions are usually generated from newcomers with limited knowledge – remember the Hunt brothers? The market is therefore in a state of flux and this could lead to distortion with uncertain and possibly harmful effects for the future of our hobby.
I hesitate to give an account of my thoughts and opinions on the actual results of this auction because I consider the results “artificial” in the true meaning of the word. I could give actual examples to support this statement but this could not be done without offending some people and it is never a good idea to prove to people that they are ignorant, regardless of how true this may be.
BCD
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