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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,097 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
616 Posts |
Poll Question
Recent threads have debated whether dealers should sell copies or fakes.
Should fakes that are not marked as such be sold by reputable dealers as long as they are sold as fakes?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
Stamp COPY somewhere in the field, then sell. Some fakes obviously are no threat, but the copies that are in good metal, hand-struck using dies created from authentic coins, are IMO to dangerous to not deface properly.
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Moderator
 United States
34419 Posts |
IMHO, selling a fake that has been counterpunched COPY is ok, but selling an unlabelled fake, even if properly disclosed during the auction, is providing provenance to that fake and undermines this hobby. I'm pretty sure that this poll was regarding the second situation.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
The "that are not marked as such" is the deciding factor for me. There're just too many fakes on the market for me to condone the idea of adding more...too many bad guys out there.
It would be great if all dealers possessed a small punch with "COPY" or "FAKE" on it and universally agreed to mark these coins before listing. Buyers with good (educational) motives would get study material for their black cabinets, and the bad guys would be largely precluded from reselling the coins as legit - although I have seen some fakes in which there was some filing away of old museum "COPY" stamps.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1475 Posts |
Agree with all three gentlemen above.
As long as punched "COPY", then I think it will be OK. But, "fakes that are not marked" is definitely not.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
745 Posts |
Unmarked fakes should be catalogued for future reference and then marked as a copy or destroyed
Tim Hughes
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
As long as they are mark copy or replica that's OK. But if unmarked than no.
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Valued Member
United States
467 Posts |
I agree with everyone-- if it is not clearly marked as fake it should not be sold.
Online sites are filled with people who are clear in their written description, "Silver plated clad coin" and are selling something such as a 1 oz Silver Panda, marked .999 Ag. They may be being truthful, but the coin itself is not.
You have to assume at least some of the people buying coins that look real but are not, are buying them for the hope of profiting off other people later.
My personal opinion is that it will lead to less people collecting in the future, which hurts us all.
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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
I have bought four $1 US coins, known, unmarked copies to the sole purpose of having that coin to display in my personal 7070. I have pixed these for reference (other comparisons) and dremelled "COPY" afterwards. I will never be able to afford such coins for real. An 1804, (yea right, definite fake...), an 1864 w/64 in different font), an 1873 Ty2 TD, NIFC Test piece(uh huh!) and an 1878-S poorly cast w/medallion reverse  (180° out)! See nothing wrong with this, all marked and documented for idiots later. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
Seems to be more consensus on this than most issues. Fakes should be clearly marked as such IMO.
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Pillar of the Community
 Spain
2752 Posts |
 STAMPED!! |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
I didn't answer the poll because fakes should only be sold for their base metal value. That is a dichotomy, because dishonest persons would never try to be so honest.
I DO in fact buy fake coins, but only privately from persons that I know. I have a reasonably sized fake ancient coin collection for my own education, to learn how to identify fake coins more confidently. I also have quite a few books on the subject.
I DO NOT sell any fake coins, because I need to learn from them.
My 'black' collection will eventually be given away to a personal friend, who also happens to be one of Australia's coin dealers. He will add them to the collection that is owned by his specialist coin business. His staff has strong talent in the auctioning of ancient coins.
If you are going to collect ancient coins, is ESSENTIAL to learn how to identify fake coins with confidence.
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Moderator
Australia
16836 Posts |
If we're talking about the United States, then American law is clear: selling fakes without COPY indelibly stamped into them is illegal. Other countries do not have this legal requirement, so dealers there may sell unmarked fakes if they wish.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,097 |
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Posted 07/10/2017 09:57 am
