Fakes, counterfeits, etc

[dzuberbu 0]

Hi all:

I have done much more purchasing on E-bay than I really should have over the past year. And there has usually been some concern for counterfeits (we are talking 'recent' -- not 'contemporary') -- where a 'contemporary' counterfeit would be one that was minted in the same approximate era as the original -- 'recent' meaning that is was very recently manufactured and the coin itself might be from any era (or in some cases, non-existent).

Now because I'm still 'novice' -- I can't say that viewing an image on E-bay will be definitive -- meaning, I doubt that I can recognize a counterfeit from an genuine coin based on an electronic image.

Summary:

I'm somewhat disinclined to purchase on E-bay. And this has been a topic forming in my mind for quite some time -- but, the issue became much more focused to me today.

I was 'cruising' as usual, and happened across a number of dealers that were selling coins that are very popular (Victorian crowns, english 8-reales, US Morgans, Indonesian pesata, .. and others). In their defense, they did not advertise them as 'genuine' -- in the description it says 'reproduction' and it references Chinese Miao silver (which is an alloy that contains about 2% silver, and more of copper and nickel). So ... I impart two things: Unless most of you have a better sense from 'visuals' than I get, it's really difficult to tell from an image whether or not the coin is genuine. I commend these dealers for being forthright in their presentation (you would be challenged to even find these entries searching by usual criteria) -- but at the same time, it does open my eyes to the possibility that certain less than reputable folks might purchase these coins (knowing that they are fake) and then resell them on E-bay.

By the way, I did purchase several of these items -- simply because I wanted some 'genuine fakes' with which to compare my other stuff. Some of them are really good -- some of them are almost humorous (like when the obverse is for an entirely different coin than the reverse is).

But, I am less inclined to purchase from E-bay as a result. Again, I appreciate the honesty of the seller -- because they really don't present any real intention of fraud -- but, the coins are essentially 'counterfeit' in the respect that they do not indicate on the coin itself that it's a fake.

./dz

[Peckris 579]

eBay is certainly a problem area for fakes, especially from China, but do bear in mind that such coins can occur anywhere. Even reputable dealers have been taken in by extremely high-quality repros of - e.g. - Northumberland shillings or gothic florins. As an original genuine coin was used in their manufacture, only by comparing two examples with the identical minor blemishes of the original could you be absolutely certain you had a fake.

It's a huge problem, which eBay has not caused but has certainly exacerbated.

[Paulus 1,942]

London Coins auctioned 2 dodgy G3 half crowns a few months ago, and a dealer sold one on to me

They were both 180 degrees aligned, so were obvious to anyone who thought to check ... not sure if the counterfeiters do this by mistake, or so they can claim (if challenged) that their coins are deliberately not exact replicas ...

Edited October 19, 2014 by Paulus

[azda 973]

You get what you pay for on ebay, reading the descriptions clearly and you can tell what is what, although some sellers do try and conceal the fact that coins are counterfeit,whle others tend to try and conceal it in the descriptions.

You just simply have to know your area of collecting. Can someone link seuks G3 counterfeit page for the OP to save and study please. Not all sellers are criminals though and you simply cannot ignore ebay for buying coins unfortunately. G3 Halfcrown, Northumberland shilling, Gothic crowns and recently 1864 die number 64 Florins have been highlighted here as being sold on ebay as fakes.

[Peter 615]

The forum is good for alerting fakes and scum who import the Shang Hi silver.

Look at the Alibah bah site .