hibernianscribe

Have a look at his other items - some real bargains here! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Pence-2p-1971-Rare-Coin/263558353036?hash=item3d5d4d508c:g:8BcAAOSwkm9aq6D1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2p-New-Pence-coin-1981-Two-Pence-Pre-1983-Free-UK-P-P/263558369106?hash=item3d5d4d8f52:g:C-oAAOSwxo9aq6Nm

Reported too!

I noticed this one this morning: https://www.ebay.com/itm/253476938178?ul_noapp=true I believe a 'not encapsulated' category means for various reasons it is not eligible for grading. The reference number however, does tally with a clipped Richard III groat, but no mention of not being encapsulated. Frank

Me too!

I absolutely agree - perhaps an investigation by Dominic 'whatshisname' on 'Fake Britain' would do the trick - if it didn't stop eBay's bad practices at least it could expose the likes of Field_walker. However, saying that, scumbags like that would just change their username and carry on.

Beats me how this crook keeps his 100% record.

Thanks for that - in fact I did not take delivery in view of the missing trays - the seller refunded me without ever dispatching the item. I'm still looking. Frank

Definitely - but as Declan says, very professionally done although I don't think it's ever possible to remove all mounting evidence.

This has been discussed before in this Forum in that import duty from non EU countries for antiquities that include numismatic artefacts is just 5% NOT 20%! However I want to flag this up again since there are some useful tips arising from my recent experiences. The regulations have been changed now for a couple of years but twice in the past 6 months they have tried to hit me with the higher rate which I have successfully challenged. So it is likely that this situation is happening to a lot of unwitting punters! If the package is sent by courier you may get a text/email from them saying you must pay the duty before they will deliver. I got this from FedEx a couple of weeks ago asking for 20% and I immediately called their customer service who said the higher rate would have been charged if the description of the item was not clear and they helpfully forwarded to me pdf copies of the paperwork which clearly showed that they were speaking a load of tosh - the description was very clear and stated it was a Charles I coin dated 1646 etc etc. I immediately emailed back telling them to resubmit to HM Customs with the existing paperwork and to get the duty charged reduced. Evidently this did the trick because I heard nothing more but a day later the package arrived, me having paid no charge. If the description had not been clear I would have had to provide additional proof to HMRC (via FedEx) and Customs would have reconsidered the import charge. Luckily FedEx were prepared to do this but if they had not then it would have been a more difficult problem to resolve. The real point of this is to tell you to ensure that your shipper clearly describes the item so that it qualifies for the reduced rate and minimises the possibility that the wrong charge is levied. Of course you cannot plan for Customs cock-ups which I suspect my recent experience was due to. With FedEx I found this straightforward but different companies have different procedures - DHL for instance will invoice you after the delivery so I suppose a query back through them might be the first course of action if you've been overcharged since they will have a direct contact with the Customs office that levied the duty, otherwise I believe it's a lengthy and tedious process to claim the overcharge back from HM Customs. Unfortunately, if your package has been sent by mail I think only the latter course is open to you, since the postman will drop a little red & white card through the letter-box telling you that your package is ready to collect from your local sorting office on payment of the duty - I don't see Royal Mail getting involved in any way to help rectify an overcharge. So the bottom-line is make sure your shipper does good accurate paperwork and ship by courier (certainly FedEx) if possible. Frank

Just doesn't look right to me.

This one must be extremely flat then! https://www.ebay.com/itm/1879-ENGLISH-ONE-PENNY-NICE-XF-COMBINED-SHIPPING/323050611862?hash=item4b37512496:g:dbkAAOSwuQxadcr~

Can someone please point me to simple instructions of uploading my personal avatar, despite searching hard and long I cannot find how to do this and due to the fact that most members have one I'm feeling left out and frustrated that I cannot figure out how to do it! When it comes to techie stuff I'm a bit dumb so if I'm missing something obvious please bear with me. Thanks, Frank

Reported!

Absolutely! Full marks for optimism and inventiveness.

I've gone through the motions of reporting it but will ebay act on it and all the other reports? Very doubtful!

Thanks for that - I agree, this is a very useful site!

I've just bought this super Commonwealth half crown with excellent provenance including previous sale by Spink, so its authenticity is certain. It is a 1652 over 1 variant that neither North nor Spink references describe, so no pictures to refer to. It is apparently listed by ESC as 'rare' (ESC old 26 and ESC new 430) although at present I don't have a copy of English Silver Coinage to look at. Now that I have the coin in my hand I am having some difficulty actually seeing the changed digit although the 2 does appear 'different' and with my digital microscope I think I can see just a smidgeon of a serif along the bottom edge of the 2. Since this is the first of these that I have actually seen I'm wondering whether others are as difficult to classify. Can anyone enlighten me on the process they would have used to change the 1 to 2 - would the original digit have been scraped off before re-stamping or would they have just applied the new digit over the old? Whatever they did this is quite a neat job and not as obvious as say, 1865 over 3 pennies. Could any of you more wise than me offer any advice on this?

There are some interesting posts over the past few days in the "Ebay's Worst Offerings" thread concerning Catawiki coin auctions that should be read by all that might consider bidding in those auctions.

This all started with me making a straightforward query to Catawiki about provenance for a particular lot (a Newark ninepence) because I was concerned that the seller was based in Bulgaria. Of course, all of that has been discussed and it would seem that the Bulgarian connection was somewhat less than bona fide! Because my query to their coin expert Marcel Spijkerbosch was ignored I repeated it, but still no response. This silence was deafening as far as I am concerned and in the meantime the discussion about the Bulgarian connection and a first-hand account of how Catawiki might be "turning a blind eye" to counterfeits was posted. This lack of communication from Catawiki to me is all I need to decide never attempt to buy in those auctions again - I have lost confidence. This is different to the eBay situation since from the conversation about this in the eBay's Worst Offerings thread it would appear that Catawiki staff may well be consciously ignoring counterfeit lots being peddled through their auctions. The latest development on this has been that I responded to an email previously sent to me during December before all of this blew up. It was a request for feedback on Catawiki's customer service as I had previously made a query about another lot some time ago. This email was from the Manager of Customer Service - a Petra Hageman, and I saw this as an opportunity to enter into dialogue about the zero customer service I had received when making queries about provenance for a 'suspect' coin. Again absolutely no response and my message was sent a week ago. In my view this does not put Catawiki in a 'good light' at all! Of course, none of this is proven and there has been an element of speculation but it is enough, I think, for all to be warned to treat Catawiki auctions with extreme caution!

Thanks for your inputs. This query has spurred me into finally getting a copy of English Silver Coinage from 1649 (6th edition, 2015) which I picked up at an excellent price of £36 with free postage so I'm quite pleased. It arrived this morning and is a fine volume. I now don't know why I delayed so long in getting one. It has photos of all of the variants including the one I was querying and mine is pretty much like the picture in the book. From what Rob says above, I reckon the die was filled then re-cut. Due to the angle of lighting I think, my photo in my first post doesn't actually show what is clearly shown in the book but when I examine the coin I can see the ghost of the 1 running up the left (front) side of the 2.

This looks a bit iffy.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/253347876913?ul_noapp=true

This 'smacks' a bit of 'attempted sabotage' of a dealer's good reputation. May be these comments by Coinbuyer555 should be treated with caution.

Probably Bulgarian!

Am I missing something here? Whether it's an electrotype or not, it's being presented on eBay in such a way as to deceive in the same way as any counterfeit. Deserves reporting in my view and I have done so!

Reported as well!