Danger Of Counterfeits From Kijiji - Nobody Wins Here

As the saying goes-
"He who laughs last, laughs best"

I'm sure this made your day.
I know it made mine better.
Thanks for the info.

so will he flip the counterfeit again, once he realizes it is a fake..

How bad was the bleeding when you were biting your cheeks to keep from laughing, Mikey?

Yes , I indeed did get taken by the purchase of the 1858 penny. When the coin arrived I suspected right away that it was fake and found the confirmation information on the internet. The package containing the coin did not have a return address so there was nobody to go after at the time. I was now out the money paid. When I was contacted last week by the same individual about wanting to sell an 1875H and an 1889 Canadian quarter, I suspected that they may also be fake. I told this person that the best person to contact would be Mike Marshall since he lived in the same city. I could not give him Mikes contact info since I did not have it and directed him to see if he could find the info himself just from the name. Now that we know who this individual is, I hope that he can be put out of business. I do not think that it was necessary to try and embarrass me with this post. When Mike comes to speak in Windsor this spring, I will show the coin to him. I have no intention of trying to sell it. I am not concerned about the money lost on this coin but it would be a nice gesture if some help were now offered to get it back since we know who this person is and that an admission has been made that he sold me this coin. I would even be willing if the money were recovered, to give the full amount to the kids program for education.

Experienced collectors and dealers often get burned. Just look at the recent copy of Canadian Coin New Jan 10-23 where some big Ontario dealers got stung buying fake gold Pamp bars and Platinum bars. And apparently there will be a lot more who have been stung by this same ring since they made it all the way to Saskatchewan before being caught during a traffic stop. These are dealers and collectors with far more knowledge that I have. I will contact the seller now that I know for sure that the 1875H and 1889 quarters are fake. I did not know for sure and was not going to challenge him without proof. I simple ate the cost of the 1858 as a bad deal.

OR..... Resold ?

I still have the coin. I have told Mike that I will give him the coin when he comes to Windsor to speak in the Spring. The seller of the 1875 and 1889 quarter contacted me again and says that he does not believe that they are fake ( He says that is only 1 persons opinion and that he will seek others) This tells me that he still has the coins and is still going to try and sell them since he will be out cash if he does not. The reason I put him in contact with Mike in the first place was because I suspected them to be fake and figured if they were that this would get them off the market and lead to where they came from. It seems that we now know where they came from and yet they are still in the marketplace.

This is the typical scenario when people get duped with fake coins. They attempt to get the money back. They know that if they involve the police this probably will not happen or they do not go public to warn or educate others as they do not want to be embarrassed or lose face with other collectors. I have even seen LARGE dealers openly selling them (as counterfeits) with a 15 dollar price tag. In this scenario fake coins were purchased by an individual not knowing they were fake thinking they had a legitimate flip opportunity. Successfully selling one to a collector/dealer at a profit. Another opportunity arose and was taken. Different coins. Attempted resale, then I became involved. No one but me contacted the police. Who can the police go after? The original seller whom I believe they should. The opportunist who unknowingly flipped a fake? The buyer who now possesses the 1858 fake? Some will say all 3! The first seller for fraud. The second because ignorance is no excuse and the third because they knowingly now possess a counterfeit. All three are actually culpable. I deal with this vicious cycle all the time. That is why it is imperative that a precedent be set by the organizations supposedly involved with advancement of numismatics. Can you see the ripple effect and just how harmful it is to our hobby? What ever the motive, being quiet about the fakes and transactions involving them is devastating. This affects every one of us as collectors. Education and transparency are the only way. Any collector who buys a fake and does not publicly announce the facts has harmed the hobby as much as someone selling the fakes. Tolerance must be ZERO! To chalk it up to experience or the price of doing business is simply stupid. The poice view it as minor and ignorance but our hobby is being destroyed.