Let's Start A Fake World Coin Seller Thread!

Chinese copy of a 1913 Australian half-penny, currently listed on ebay as genuine.

1913 Australian half-penny

This particular seller has been trying to shift altered date 1930 Australian pennies recently, with little or no disclosure.

At least one other of his current listings looks very suspect to me, which casts doubt on several of his high grade items.

wonghinghi The committee will and does review postings and reports from all areas. Last week I know there was a problem and a substitute was sending TPG reports for a few days. That may have delayed your report.

I can tell you that I never saw it but I did see another report made YESTERDAY by another member - so it seems that ebay is up to date as of last night - less any losses that occurred last week.

I looked at the auction and it clearly violates ebay policy. BUT NOT because it is a counterfeit coin because counterfeits are legal to sell in the UK. The violation is that the seller will ship to the US. The illegal activity is IMPORTING and unmarked counterfeit into the US. So I asked if it could be terminated for that reason.

Many countries like China, Spain, France and Italy have laws that allow some counterfeits to be sold. The normal violation on ebay is shipping to the US. ebay can not terminate an auction in a foreign country for an action that is legal there. BUT they can stop the auction if the seller says he will ship to the US. They also seem to stop auctions on US ebay posted by overseas sellers when they clearly describe the item as COUNTERFEIT.

I have asked for a specific clarification in this case to see what happened to your report.

Swamperbob : you mean that anything fake on ebay which is not sold in the US will not be removed ? Sh*t ...

I guess where I would take issue with online market places and their positions on counterfeiting, copies, etc., is that while it may not be illegal in all countries to manufacture or sell reproductions that are not clearly identified as such, it is almost universally illegal to attempt to defraud through misrepresentation.

My problem isn't with having copies out there, but with having unmarked reproductions, deliberately designed to deceive.

IMHO, by facilitating such practices, surely one becomes complicit in the fraud, particularly once informed.

For an individual, being 'too busy' is not an excuse - In no other area of commercial practice is 'being too busy' a legitimate excuse for not complying with legal obligations.

I suppose the much bigger issue for such on-line marketplaces would be liability for the facilitation of sale of stolen goods, as it isn't restricted to collectible items.

Call me cynical, but I have no doubt at all that the big online market places have thought long and hard about their positions on these sorts of practices.

I am sure they are very aware the impact it would have on their turnover if they were to become pro-active (such as reporting to authorities, etc), and have instead moved to insulate themselves by moving headquarters to states and countries that have laws more suited to protecting them from prosecution or liability, and modified their terms and conditions to further insulate.

OK - so I've accepted that the world isn't fair.

The one positive that does come from all of this, is that honest, reliable, and fair operators can build up a reputation and develop repeat business a little easier.

Hardly a satisfactory position, but it's what we have, so if I want to be involved I need to accept this,(of course with the aim to improve).

I wonder, will it be the eventual downfall of such online marketplaces? Only history will tell.

For all of the reasons above, and more, any step in the right direction is very significant and should be encouraged, IMHO.

Go hard Swamperbob - you certainly have my support.