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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,561 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1191 Posts |
I noticed that every time a coin is listed on ebay, people claim that the coin is fake. True, China is known to sell fake merchandise but what if the coin being listed is by a fellow coin collector that is trying to sell some old US coins. A seller that is listing a coin for the first time, even if it's a none China country, with a bunch of other random goodies is also considered fake for some reason. I do agree that if a seller is constantly selling fake coins and his feedback is full of them, he is most likely is selling another one. But why do people always jump to the conclusion that a coin is fake? Edited by Hello There
07/29/2015 10:51 pm
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Moderator
 United States
14463 Posts |
Did you mean this as a reply to another thread?  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1191 Posts |
No, just Something have been wondering for a while.
Edited by Hello There
07/29/2015 11:03 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1295 Posts |
The fact is, there are a lot of fake coins on ebay, and the numerous threads you see posted here are meant to educate members on what to look for. We don't just go around claiming every coin is counterfeit; we always have reasons and knowledge to back it up with. It may seem like all we do is talk about fakes, but that's just because we don't make a fuss about genuine ebay listings.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
Read some of the threads on Spanish Colonial fakes in Foreign Coins. I think some people are paranoid regarding US coins, but after seeing the sophistication of the 19th century forgers you start to get pretty skeptical. A lot of people hate ebay too. A coin in hand in a shop is a different experience from seeing a picture. If you don't spend time in shops handling the real thing the pictures can fool you. "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1191 Posts |
Is there a thread about what to look for when buying coins on ebay for all denomination? Edited by Hello There
07/29/2015 11:19 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6370 Posts |
We don't assume something is fake because it is a new seller or the seller has no expertise in coins. That's where coin knowledge comes in. It's just that these sellers have a higher percentage of fakes than reliable sources because they have no expertise in coin authentication.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1191 Posts |
Anyone wants to tutor me in coin related things than  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
There are usually red flags on the listings in question, even if there's nothing too egregious evident in the photos. Certainly if the item is uncertified and being shipped directly from China it merits extra scrutiny. Double up on your skepticism if the seller has zero or minimal feedback. Then become even more suspicious if the seller's other items consist of commonly forged coinage. Now before you take that as unfair "profiling", take a look at this: http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoin...-Dollars.htmThe Chinese are nowadays counterfeiting coins on an industrial scale. They need markets outside of China to make this nefarious trade worthwhile, and ebay is an ideal conduit for this purpose. Caveat emptor. Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5205 Posts |
There was a post in the last year or so where the original posted laid out some psychiatry.
If you lead the post of with "Is this fake" everyone will jump on your bandwagon and say it is fake.
If you lead your post of with "Check out my new insert coin here" everyone will say nice coin.
If you preface the post with a certain line of thinking it will influence others impressions and thoughts of an image.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
711 Posts |
I know there is a list of sellers of fakes on ebay for ancient coins. Don't have the link handy though. Not sure about non ancients. For non ancients that are rare and raw and potentially valuable, assume fake is my rule of thumb. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
When you buy a coin on e-bay you must study the photos a couple of times .if the seller is only showing one side of a coin ,pass it up ,don't even give it a second thought. however, you need to know what a genuine coin is supposed to look like. all this takes experience from reading ,studying , don't forget with e-bay your looking at a photo and whatever the seller says about the coin. which you can believe or not. All of the above is not 100% foolproof .even some of us seasoned members get taken on a bad coin. POOP HAPPENS .  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
Quote:
you need to know what a genuine coin is supposed to look like. all this takes experience from reading ,studying So true. In my non-numismatic life, one of my mantras is "you have to know what is usual to identify what is unusual." Knowing the usual takes repetition, reading, study, etc. I'm still looking for a pill I can take to instantly assimilate knowledge about identifying fake coins.  Until I find such a pill, I will do the repetition thing and ask questions of the experts here about different "tells" and signs of fakeness. |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
We say they're fake because in many cases we have decades of experience looking at these things, and we can tell they're fake. When you have decades of experience, you'll be able to tell too.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,561 |
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Posted 07/29/2015 10:59 pm
