Bad Fakes On Ebay - How Do We Stop These?

Questionable Authenticity and still over $100.
I guess people like throwing money away.

These are all very common really bad forgeries. They are so bad that I really wonder if the people bidding are visually impaired or just dumb.

I truly don't understand the bidding on the 'questionable authenticity' one...

Join the forum to learn more will help to avoid forgery. Submit those examples you are suspicious in the forum and share the experience to each other. Fight against forgery!

I admit that I don't have enough expertise to buy Mexican silver, if I had to rely on pictures alone, before making a decision to buy.
I have a few pieces, but they were all bought after inspecting in hand first, and they would all have a value of less than $50.

kanga The change happened in March of this year. The new owners of ebay decided to fire the entire Trust and Safety Department because too many auctions were being stopped and it was costing them money. I was one of the people who was let go. Prior to that I averaged dozens of terminations a day in the Foreign coin department. So yes ebay "gave up on pulling questionable items" because it was in their best financial interest to do so.

John I too have dealt with Mercedes Rizo on numerous occasions with regard to Class 1 coins. I agree the seller is completely honest and in this case I was picking on the grading company for not saying it is a forgery and being done with it. This precise die pair is a match to a coin that Virgil Hancock owned at one time. It has been on my radar since 1998 when I bought the left over parts of Virgil Hancock's counterfeit collection.

sel_69l One thing you need to realize is that coins worth less than $50 are forged all the time.

To the folks that see the price of $150 as being too high for a numismatic forgery - I blame that price on a mixture of factors - first the TPG failed to come right out and call it a numismatic forgery. The fact it is questionable could lead to bids by people figuring the coin was a Class 1 Contemporary forgery which would probably be worth $150. Uncertainty often breeds a willingness to gamble that would have been avoided by a proper classification. Too bad.

The strongest area of interest for me in numismatics is in ancient coins.
That is also the area where I have spent almost all of my edcational effort in learning how to identify fake coins, but most of the rules below should apply to all coin collectors.

This is my strategy developed to that end:

1. I maintain an extensive collection of fake ancient coins, ranging from obviously fake to highly deceiving.

2. I have easy access to XRF testing equipment. Actually so do most other coin collectors; just ask your local bullion dealer.

3. Extensive experience with style an fabric coupled with weight are very useful factors in the identification of fake ancient coins. I will never be out of a state of development in this regard.

4. I have a small library on the detection of fake coins and on the various methods of their manufacture.

5. I have a library of about 70 books and researsh references on ancient coins.

6. The various data bases to be found on the 'net on fake coins are a very useful tool in proving the authenticity of a coin that requires investigation.

7. I have maintained a strong numismatic friendship with probably two of the most experienced dealers in ancient coins in Australia for over 30 years, both of whom are international auction lot describers.

8. For all of my more significantly valuable ancient coins, I have only bought from dealers or auctions of the highest reputation and experience. I have kept the invoices for all of these coins in a separate folder for over 30 years. The maintenance of an invoice record helps to establish or extend provenance, should the coins need to be sold.

9. I always like to see any coin in hand before making a decision to buy. That, for the most part, precludes me buying coins on ebay, although if the seller is of the provable reputation as decribed above, I cannot see why buying on ebay should stop me.