AUCTION CATALOGS Öffentlichkeit Deposited
PET PEEVES RE
The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 11, March 14, 2004, Article 17
PET PEEVES RE: AUCTION CATALOGS
Ronald S. Thompson writes: "Regarding Pet Peeves - I agree
that price guidelines are very useful for the bidder. I think they
are a great service by the cataloguer along with the lot
descriptions since most bidders will not be able to personally
view the lots. I assume that the dealers who don't include price
guidelines hope the bidders will overbid without them or think
it is the bidders obligation to know the value. I know that
catalogues without price guidelines are not my favorites and that
I tend to bid more often when price guidelines are present."Philip J. Carrigan writes: "As to auction catalogs and their
inclusion of a bibliography and estimates: I see more catalogs
with the biblio and very few with estimates. The point of
helping someone learn about attribution systems or bidding
values is noble. My view is either or both of these elements
are nice to include in a sale catalog but a collector is best
advised to avoid learning either varieties or prices from a
catalog or via the bidding route. If one doesn't recognize the
meaning of an 'O-101' with a listing of US Bust halves or
know what to bid, one needs to read (only) more sale
catalogs, find a good agent and sit in the auction room with
catalog but without a bidder number. This and other means
will prepare the collector to ultimately BID. Also, estimates
are not needed when popular and well-chronicled series are
auctioned."Darryl writes: "Your points are well taken, Phil. However, your
advice would seem to have a novice collector watch and learn
and wait until he is a more experienced (i.e. knowledgeable)
collector before actually buying anything.Recently, I was reading a catalogue on American paper currency
- not U.S. Federal issues. Every state seemed to have its own
attribution system but no where in the catalogue could I find any
reference actually telling me who catalogued the notes of Missouri
(for example). How helpful is this to the novice???"Anyhow, thanks for your comments. Hopefully there will be
more."- 2004-03-14
- 7