1949threepence

It was about two years ago, maybe a bit more, that they brought in the "Bidder 1" business on the UK site. Before that, you always knew who you were up against, and who sniped you at the last minute, which was rather fun in a small hobby like ours - almost felt a bit community-like. Oh I see! I've not bought from eBay further back than that. So I'm used to the whole Bidder1 thing, and think no more of it. Even the "Bidder 1" etc, system has been replaced now, Instead they show a list of the user names, with most of the characters starred out. As in this example Although they only ever use three stars, so you can't even tell how many characters are in any given user's name. Oh yes, I see - thank you for that 1949. I was just thinking "what a fair price for an Unc 1906 penny" when I saw the caveat about surface marks and edge knocks. Sigh. Oh well. Honest seller anyway - I would have assumed it was a good coin. The seller concerned has that caveat against all his/her sales. I've bought quite a lot from bitsandbobs1204 and trust him to cut a good deal. I've never been disappointed in what I've got from him. So there you go, personal recommendation

Well, what else can you do ? One has to pass them on. I wonder how long we'll have to wait for the Royal Mint reaction ? Bi-metallic pound anyone ? Oh, or is that a Euro...... Neh ~ that's one concession Nick Clegg will not have been able to extract from David Cameron

Just to add that both Peckris & myself had severe problems with the edit function when we first joined. At the start it didn't seem to work at all. Then we were able to edit for about a minute after posting (literally a minute, tops). I then took a break between Christmas and about the end of March. On resumption of posts, I found that I could edit for some considerable time after making a post.

Indeed. If you did hand it in then they wouldn't give you £1 for it. Whihc leaves most people with the choice of passing it on or making a loss. Same as in ye olden days in fact, except now nobody will chop a bit off you for posession of a fake. I collected enough counterfeit (are they good enough to call that?) £1 coins to have an (preferably extremely poor!) example from most dates since 1997. My 'worst' examples are made from lead which has then been painted gold. Pass them off once and after that the paint wears off so a real shoddy job! But numismatically interesting. I'm afraid I do pass them on as I really don't see why I should sustain a loss based solely on personal knowledge. Ironically enough the fakes are often given in change from the very establishments who take such pains to check the £10 & £20 notes customers give them.

I initially though great, but then remembered there's nothing to stop someone having many accounts all with 100 per month each I'm sure the loop hole will soon be filled.I've personally got a buying and another selling account....it will surely stop some sellers listing 600 items of tat per week & I never sell more than 100 coins per month.....I shall be holding off for a month or 2 to see how it pans out. In the good old days maybe 12 or 13 thousand coins were listed under British now its more like 40,000. I wish you could block sellers. I think it would be easy for e bay to track a fixed IP address, and limit it to the requisite number of free istings per month. But there are a significant number of dynamic IP addresses, which change frequently, and then there is nothing to stop anybody doing multiple registrations, via proxy servers.

Like most of the fake £1 coins, it's not very good, and child's play to spot. Most have blurred strikes, the wrong inscription, and often the wrong reverse for the year given. I suppose the forgers have been so careless because they know they can get away with it. Apart from banks, it's probably only us coin collectors that even bother looking at them.

I shouldn't really say just in case I decide to sell my GEF fake on ebay If you look at the R in EDWARDVS there is a spider-like crack where the front leg joins the loop. It's either very common on the 1905 HC or just coincidence that both known fakes I've owned also have it. Gary Thanks Gary ~ chicken or egg situation ? Are they actual flaws in the forgeries or are the forgeries with the spider like crack in the R of EDWARDVS, simply copying a flaw from the original ?

The first two links are of the same coin. But yes, I too would be very interested in Gary's analysis. They look, for all the world, like ordinary, fairly well worn old coins.

Neat idea.

Hmmm, I'm mildly suspicious. Whilst there are undoubtedly some genuine coins there, if you look at the other items on offer by the same seller, there seem to be a hell of a lot of uncirculated old florins and shillings. Don't know, but I do have reservations ~ oh and thanks for the heads up on Richparfishing, Declan. I did notice in Nyame's feedback that most of the purchases were his (on the first page, anyway).

Many apologies, Colin. What I meant was sketchy, apart from your informative website

I wish I could help you with this FP, but unfortunately I've never come across them before, and as you already kow, web info is very sketchy. I'd say there probably isn't a market for them at present. Very interesting, nonetheless, and hopefully detail can be filled in by others.

As Peck said, he's done a fantastic job with the dip, and it now looks like an EF, bright lustred coin. Incidentally, dipping may give a superficial optical illusion of enhanced grade, but it can't conceal wear, which will always be visible to close scrutiny. I agree with most of the comments made by members above on this issue of seller ethics (ie: I can see both sides of the argument equally). Yes, sellers are out to maximise their profits, and you really can't blame them for that, but at the same time we as buyers do want an accurate description of the item we are buying. That should include whether or not the coin has been cleaned or dipped. The problem with making such a request an e bay obligation, is that sellers would plead that it wasn't them who had cleaned or dipped it, and that they themselves had not realised that it had been so cleaned or dipped. The only long term principle we can attach to buying is one of caveat emptor. The buyer should always beware of what he is buying. Mostly what we get will be genuine, even if we are disappointed with the eventual "in hand" appearance. If buying on a regular basis, then now and again, we will be completely swindled, although it may take us literally decades to realise that fact, if the fake item is simply dropped into a collection and left there. The possibility of being done, and the equal possibility of getting a superb bargain, is one of the real life factors of e bay. It's the way it is, and there's really not a lot we can do, except to take real care and use all our powers of discrimination before we commit to buy, or bid. Either that or buy from coin fairs or dealer shops, where you can actually look at the coin direct through the naked eye.

It was about two years ago, maybe a bit more, that they brought in the "Bidder 1" business on the UK site. Before that, you always knew who you were up against, and who sniped you at the last minute, which was rather fun in a small hobby like ours - almost felt a bit community-like. Oh I see! I've not bought from eBay further back than that. So I'm used to the whole Bidder1 thing, and think no more of it. Even the "Bidder 1" etc, system has been replaced now, Instead they show a list of the user names, with most of the characters starred out. As in this example Although they only ever use three stars, so you can't even tell how many characters are in any given user's name.

Hello Rob and welcome. Just to say there is absolutely no bar to any of the questions/points that you pose. Also, as you may have noticed, there is a sub forum specifically devoted to software. Enjoy

Welcome Andy. I'm currently collecting a date run of EF+ Victorian bun pennies. You'll have to let us know what Victoriana you've got. What type of proofs do you collect ?

Sold for £258.77. I make that a mark up of 462.1% over the £56.00 he paid for it. Sharp practice or good business sense ?

It's still only VF. Surely no experienced collector would fall for that coin being in EF, given the amount of hair detail loss.

Damn! I'm not going to rush to find them, then lol ~ understandable

Thanks Leviathan, much appreciated

Thanks. Had a look, but buggered if I can find them

Where do you find the mintages, Scott ? They don't sem to be in my coin yearbook, for whatever reason.

I appreciate what you say about cost, but just as a matter of interest, one of the members here, RLC35, has one for sale on his website. The link to the coin itself, is here

I'm no expert on hammered coinage, but a bit more detail than this:- Might have been useful.

I'd say it was genuine ~ first instinct is that it looks old metal. If you look at the obverse, for example, there are numerous little nicks which appear to have been gathered over many years. Hard to reproduce artificially IMHO.