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 Replies: 32 / Views: 4,258 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1048 Posts |
I bought an 1884-O Morgan on ebay. The listing photo showed a nice circulated specimen (VF-35, if I had to guess) with appealing color. The seller, with 100% positive feedback, was purported to be in Louisiana. At $17.50 plus $3 shipping, I was fine with the purchase. I've accumulated maybe 60 pleasing common-date Morgans this way over the past couple of years. When after a few days the coin did not arrive, I checked the tracking number listed on the ebay order. Lo and behold, it showed a package en route from Guangzhou in China. Meanwhile, the seller's feedback was swamped with negative entries complaining of fake coins. The next day, the seller was removed from ebay. Nearly two weeks after the transaction, I received not one, but these two fake 1884-O Morgans (neither of which resembled the listing photos), arriving in separate packages on the same day. Go figure. Why bother to send anything at all? Why do it twice, when I only ordered one? Groundwork for a confidence scheme?  ebay refunded my $17.50 and the shipping, but I did have to wait until the package(s) came, and I had to spend 20 mins on the phone. The coins weigh in at about 27.90g -- barely too heavy for a Morgan. They're a shade too thick, also, at 2.49mm. So what should I do with these things? Toss them in the garbage? Edited by pristine2
02/02/2019 12:49 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1378 Posts |
give em to a kid......teach em young so they never get fooled....or it may actually have silver in it......some do....someone can melt em later
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Edited by DoctorBurnzy
02/02/2019 12:00 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6514 Posts |
I wonder if a coin dealer at a show would have a COPY stamp to mark them with. Then possibly sell them or give them away as learning tools. Heck. I'd spend a few dollars for one to get the feel of a genuine fake in hand.
Check out my counterstamped Lincoln Cent collection: http://goccf.com/t/303507 |
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
Contest time? John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6505 Posts |
If it was me. I would put them in a 2x2 and mark them lesson learned.
At least it wasn't that costly
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2023 Posts |
I might check them for silver content, but regardless I wouldn't let them go without marking them in some way so someone else didn't get fooled later.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8715 Posts |
Quote:
I might check them for silver content, but regardless I wouldn't let them go without marking them in some way so someone else didn't get fooled later.  |
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Moderator
United States
54280 Posts |
What was the seller's ebay ID? |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1048 Posts |
At the time I bought the coin the seller was identified as "arelso349", which now yields nothing on an ebay seller search. After ebay "suspended" the seller, the original listing disappeared but the order details were still there under "purchase history", along with the tracking number. I noticed then that seller's name had changed. When I messaged that seller I got no reply -- but it turns out that person wasn't the scammer. There was no way to get an explanation until after the item was delivered -- only then was I able to navigate to a link with a authorization code to call ebay. What had happened was that the Chinese scam artist had acquired a real but hacked ebay account. It was active and had 29 feedback entries, but hadn't been used much since 2010. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1048 Posts |
The fakes aren't magnetic, and the weight & thickness are close enough to the real thing that I might guess that there probably is some silver in them.
Testing them sounds like a hassle though, and who would buy them if I did find silver? I don't have a furnace hot enough to melt them.
On one of them you can actually see little streaks of copper on the surface.
Edited by pristine2
02/02/2019 5:20 pm
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Pillar of the Community
7234 Posts |
True, keep them as a lesson and mark the holder (if you put them in one) with "FAKE"
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Forum Dad
United States
24148 Posts |
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give em to a kid..... Don't give them to anyone without them permanently marked or someone will likely eventually be taken. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4691 Posts |
Why do you think they are fakes? Just because they came from China? That's a pretty harsh pre-judgement, whether they are fakes or not.
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Forum Dad
United States
24148 Posts |
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Why do you think they are fakes? Just because they came from China? You bet. Sorry if that upsets you, but I have never seen a Morgan from any venue coming from China that I didn't think was fake. Ever. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1005 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1048 Posts |
I knew I was getting a fake from the second I saw the tracking origin, days before I saw the coins. The vast majority of counterfeit goods on this planet are churned out in China, and US coins are no exception. Sorry if it's politically incorrect to say so, but it is true. They're obviously fakes, and not particularly good ones. Under a loop, you can see die irregularities. The coins utterly fail the ping test. They also don't weigh what they should, and they are a hair too thick. Edited by pristine2
02/02/2019 7:05 pm
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Replies: 32 / Views: 4,258 |
Posted 02/02/2019 11:57 am
