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New Member
 United States
4 Posts |
Well that sure answered my questions. Thank you very much! I have a few real coins that I got in change over the years. Nothing special, mostly wheat pennies, Indian head pennies, Buffalo nickels and silver quarters. Would that be something worth posting? Once again thank you for expertise and fair warnings. Have a good evening. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
As I understand it, no law has been broken if they were openly sold to you as fakes.
I would naturally assume that they are all fakes.
If they had been offered to me and they were sold to me as fakes, I would have happily bought them for two reasons:
Considering how many of them there is, you are getting good value, it would cost at least a good fraction of $20 to produce them, probably more, and
They would form the start of a good educational collection of fake coins; you would have a much better eye for spotting fakes yourself in the future. That has to be worth something.
Just don't try to on sell them as genuine coins. You could have an enquiring poilceman at your front doorstep.
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
10743 Posts |
Quote:
mostly wheat pennies,Indian head pennies,buffalo nickels and silver quarters. Would that be something worth posting? Yes.. we would like to see what you have in these.  And... Welcome to the Forums.  |
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Locked
822 Posts |
Quote:
As I understand it, no law has been broken if they were openly sold to you as fakes. That's silly. Handbags, watches, paintings, coins... counterfeit is counterfeit... illegal is illegal. Owning up to the fact that it's counterfeit doesn't make it legal, you're still distributing counterfeit goods. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3098 Posts |
Quote:
Do yourself a favor. Throw them in the garbage. They are counterfeit. They are illegal to own, more illegal to sell. You don't have to! Keep them as a reference to detecting counterfeits. Notice how the strikes are very weak on most of them, and probably as well as a very weak rim. You have quite a few coins right there, so you can see quite a few varieties of counterfeits! And $20 isn't bad. Sometimes I spend up to $5 on a few well-made counterfeits for reference. But don't try to sell them. That's where you cross the line. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
I've seen lots of Chinese vendors sell these things in the same exact packaging. Even admitting they were fake!
Edited by Libertad
11/15/2010 07:57 am
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Valued Member
United States
462 Posts |
You cannot sell these. Despite any description you write, some people will not read the descrition and will assume they're real since "COPY" is not stamped into them.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
Hmm... yes, counterfeit is counterfeit, however, it is good to have some reference material in that area, and the OP did not distribute nor is intending to, hopefully, after being told of the dangers of doing so. I own quite a few counterfeits specifically for reference. Some were purposeful purchases - others were accidental. I would have paid $20 in a heartbeat, not only to get them off the 'street' but for study. I've never seen a Goloid dollar counterfeit and there are at least 2 in the bunch above! Close up pictures would be very educational. Welcome to the forums coinewb, and yes, we'd be delighted to see pictures of your other coins!  |
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Moderator
 Australia
16851 Posts |
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As I understand it, no law has been broken if they were openly sold to you as fakes. That's Australian law, sel. In Australia, Section 8 of the Crimes (Currency) Act 1981 allows for the making and selling of fake Australian coins with dates older than 1966, or fake foreign coins that are "no longer current"; it's perfectly legal, so long as both the buyer and seller know the coins are fake and there is no "intent to defraud". In America, things are different; the Hobby Protection Act prohibits the importation and sale of unmarked fake coins, whether the buyer or seller are aware of their fakeness or not. In practice, of course, Chinese fakes like the ones in the OP are flooding the US by the containerload. $2 each appears to be the standard going rate for them on American streets. In China, they sell them to gullible tourists for $1 each. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
to the community. It is illegal to buy our own these in this country. There are way too many of these being sold here. Who knows where the money for this stuff goes. It might be used to fund terrorist, drugs, or other illegal activities. I would not spend one cent to buy any of this junk and I would find the nearest Policemen and turn the person in that is trying to sell them. ebay isn't doing anything to stop the sale of these fakes, it's time that we as collectors need to step in an do what we can to stop the flow of counterfeit coins from being sold in the US. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
5375 Posts |
I see why you bought them, but I actually would have followed him and called the police. The reason is that he may be part of a counterfeit distribution network operating on ebay. Actually, that's likely what he is. |
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New Member
United States
4 Posts |
Hmm... you guys are getting me pretty worried. Maybe I should clarify the story a little better. I was on my way to work and waiting at the bus stop in a good part of Torrance CA.
I was approached by a Mexican man in his early 30s who displayed the coins to me in the pouch shown in the picture. At first I noticed the liberty dollar and have seen these sold before on some shopping network for more than he was asking. I have no coin experience and my bus was driving up so I made an impulse decision to make the purchase.
Oh, I do remember asking him if they were fakes, he just shrugged and said he "found them". I hadn't even thought to report him to the police or anything like that. Would the local cops even care if I pointed out that someone is selling fake coins?
Thinking back on the whole situation I don't think he was part of any coin selling rink or anything like that, if anything he was looking to score some drug money because he looked a little "bugged out". Who knows maybe he was scammed and just wanted to get rid of them since he found out they are worthless.
Anyway, thank you all for your input. I have decided to keep the coins as reference for myself as I do enjoy the idea of coin collecting and these would come in handy in comparisons or simply to keep around to post on forums such as these to help others in similar situations.
I will post some of my coins and bills when I get a chance to find em. (is there a separate place for paper currency?)
Slightly off topic but some might enjoy this story:
I grew up in Eastern Europe and as a child my Grandfather gave me his coin collection which I ended up throwing at peoples feet from the 5th floor apartment I was living in. I don't remember very well what kind of coins they were but he was very angry when he found out what I did. Yes I was a spoiled brat and it was a stupid thing to do. I guess I did learn a lesson from it, however I do regret not holding on to them and today I could have shared them with you and maybe even made some profit from selling. Moral of the story: Unless your (grand)children are very mature and appreciate, do not hand them down your collections until they are of age.
P.S. At first I thought some of you saying Police will show up at my door was a little far fetched/silly but then I remembered that the store I work at had a few well done fake $100 bills slip in once and the FBI actually showed up to ask questions, so maybe I should be a little cautious of whom I show these to.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3076 Posts |
better yet just send them to me so I can learn about fake coins like this in person...and you won't get into jail by just sending them to me....as gifts...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2757 Posts |
Would the local cops care that someone sold you a illegal coins? Maybe not - but the FBI would.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3283 Posts |
Stamp the word copy into them and your good to go.
But I understand why Ozland would say throw them in the garbage,
they are upsetting to all of us.
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Replies: 20 / Views: 3,638 |
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First Page
Posted 11/15/2010 02:02 am
