Just noticed the completed auction for the coin. There were TWO bids. The winner got the coin for the simply AMAZING PRICE of only $77.00.
WHAT A DEAL.
I also checked the auction history and found that the bidder identities were being "Protected" by the seller. What a surprise - just in case anyone knew the bidders by their feedback number
- the seller took the extra step to Protect them from .........
- I have no idea what.
Wait, maybe the seller didn't want anyone to tell the bidders
that they were just taken.
And isn't that the SAME reason
ebay dropped the use of bidder identities in the first place? To keep guys like me from contacting buyers when the purchased fakes!
Talk about over-kill and GREED. But neither I nor anyone else is likely ever to correct the impulse that drives the forgers and
ebay.
Both groups are crooks.
But to be VERY SERIOUS for a second - I hope no one here bid $77 for such foolishness. I might bid $35 to get an example of a coin like this one to document the die BUT I NEVER EXPECT TO SELL THESE MODERN FAKES - EVER. They will be suitably marked to prevent fraudulent sale.
Modern counterfeits (which I prefer to call FAKES) are really just junk that are only as valuable as their silver content (if any). I buy them to document they exist.
My motivation is based on a thought that I had many years ago, but which I first encountered in print about 10 years back. Recently I was mailed another copy of the document by a fellow researcher. In 1903, M. Paul Bordeaux wrote;
Quote:
Numismatists are often at a loss to discern the origin of counterfeits submitted for their examination, when a number of years have elapsed since their fabrication. It is therefore of importance not to delay too long in publishing the documents contained in the archives relating to the issue of currency of this nature.
Truer words were never spoken, I only wish more numismatists had heeded Mr. Bordeaux and had done so. We would be in a far better situation than we are today. For the past 25 years or so I have dreamed of just such a project to document all of the counterfeits I could and to publish them before I die.
Unlike some collectors and experts who want to document only the "historical" forgeries of 100 years ago, I want to document BOTH kinds. So that in the future, numismatists will know when forgeries were actually made.
Posted 12/25/2010 12:49 am
to the community stonyhill
