It's Time To Stop - Silver On Roll End

Yeah, I see what you mean. I mostly think that cent rolls are the main culprits.

They allow people to list low grade common date wheat cents for $600... this is quite literally pennies compared to that.

If it looks to be to good to be true, buy 2.

Strictly by ebay policy, there is no prohibition against listing a Wheat cent roll that has some other coin or coins on the ends, as long as it is accurately described - AND - does not speculate about what valuable coins MIGHT be inside.

A very few sellers list their Wheat cent rolls stating "you are bidding on 48 mixed date wheat cents, and the two end coins as shown".

The sellers that are a problem do one or more of the following:

1) Put a VDB reverse Lincoln Cent on one end, the speculate in the title and/or description as to whether it might be a 1909-S VDB. (or a S mint marked IHC reverse, and speculate that it is a 1909, etc.).
2) Mention what the seller has found IN OTHER ROLLS (such as, "in the few rolls I have opened, I found blah, blah blah). What a seller found in other rolls is not a description of what is being sold, but is instead a speculation about what MIGHT be in the roll being sold.
3) Mention what "has been found". Such statements don't specify by whom, when, etc. but again it is irrelevant because it is not a description of what is actually being sold, but is instead a speculation about what MIGHT be in the roll being sold.
4) List supposed feedback comments from OTHER rolls sold. Again this is irrelevant because it is not a description of what is being sold, but is instead a speculation about what MIGHT be in the roll being sold.

The policy that governs this type of scam, is covered in the "grab bag" section of the "chance listings" policy.

This states that "The listing doesn't single out anything that "may" be contained in the grab bag that has particular monetary or obvious collectible value. For example, grab bag listings for collectible comic books can't allude to the possibility that a specific rare, high value comic book "may" be included in the grab bag. This type of listing is considered a lottery, which is not allowed on ebay."

The policy specifically states that the item speculated about must have "particular monetary or obvious collectible value". It does not define a minimum monetary value or how to determine if it has obvious collectible value.

One interpretation might be that any coin that is worth more than face value has a "particular monetary value", and that any coin the seller bothers to mention in the listing that might be in the roll must be of "obvious collectible value".

Think about the following:
"Possibly a 1909-S VDB"
"Possibly contains key dates"
"Possibly contains silver dimes"
"Possibly contains civil war tokens"
"Possibly contains Indian Head cents"
"Possibly contains steel cents"
"Possibly contains error coins"

Personally, I believe any speculation about what coin/coins MIGHT be included violates this policy.

Additional personal opinion - I believe 99% of Lincoln Cent rolls that contain any coin "of interest" on the ends was PUT THERE by the seller. No seller in their right mind would sell a Lincoln Cent roll with a 1909-S obverse, or a VDB reverse showing if the TRULY did not know if it were the valuable 1909-S VDB, or what other coins might be in the roll. These rolls are put together by sellers to appeal to buyers desire to "get lucky" and "take a chance", which is exactly why ebay formulated the chance listings policy to prohibit such practices.

It has been tolerated (well let's say there was no working mechanism to report such listings where anything would be done to enforce the policy) for many, many years, and some sellers had basically started to make a living with this type of listing.




In general, back stories purporting to describe where the coins came from (which are most likely fabricated/lies) don't seem to get ebay upset. "Rolled in 1959 by a man who was a bank teller at a major bank in San Francisco right across the street from the San Francisco mint, then sat in bank vault gathering dust until last year when I acquired them at an ESTATE SALE from the man's grandson who knows nothing about coins and just wanted to sell them quickly."

Oh, and let's not forget the lie of "good mix" and "unsearched" about which ebay will do nothing.

coin.galaxy Top Rated Seller, 100% positive feedback, with literally over 1,000 such rolls sold...

At least they TELL you that "I have thousands of Wheat Cents and roll them up
and put a Silver Dime on the end for you !"

Their cross over the line is adding "1909svdb and 1922 plain found", which, even if true, violates the policy prohibiting mentioning things that might be included.

Gone.

Reviews are tied to products, not sellers.

It's a wonder that people still buy them...