Sellers from China

ASUtodd

Did a quick search in the world coins for items located in China. Link Hope that links still works.. Anyway, I guess that Europe has sent all their rare, scarce, and old XF, FINE, and AU coins to China.... It's funny if you look at some of the acutions, the seller, and then their feedback. A few I have been able to link to the same people leaving feedback. Almost all auctions have private bidders, and the same is for the feedback. Either they are extremely private people or have something to hide. Of course, I could just be stereotyping.... oh well, I'm bored.... lata
Todd

Rickc300

<< <i>Almost all auctions have private bidders, and the same is for the feedback. Either they are extremely private people or have something to hide. >>

I think you have it all pretty well figured out... The Bay of E is getting pretty scary to navigate thru! I got booted because of an outdated credit card while some sellers are selling some pretty obvious fakes. I spent 2 weeks getting back onto eBay after that fiasco (my fault, I should have updated my card) While I was 86'd I watched a number of counterfeit coins sell to unsuspecting buyers. As long as you get your funds in on time it seems they don't really care about illegitimate items being sold even if someone complains!

Rick

wybrit

I bought one, relatively inexpensive, coin from China/Hong Kong. The seller sent me a coin allright, but it was not the one in the listing, plus it was whizzed to death. Luckily, they refunded my money. I have not bought from any seller in China/Hong Kong since, nor will I ever, no matter how enticing the deal may seem.

agentjim007

I don't buy from China. I also wondered how all those scarce European coins ended up in China.

laurentyvan

The Bay of E is getting pretty scary to navigate thru!

I'm of two minds about this. Here are some of my basic assumptions, Subject to critique:

1. You could do a classic and extremely interesting Chinese counterfeit colllection of the worlds top coins and spend virtually nothing while amusing yourself- nothing wrong with that. We could embrace Chinese counterfeit coins as an entire numismatic category. I wink, but...

2. They're easy to spot. Roughly 0 to 50 feedbacks (quickly achieved into the 100's if they wish through a flurry of buying .99 items from each other-a select group of co-conspirators), located in China, usually very bad english.

3. Strange auction construction and colors, high shipping.

4. Coins that usually have several classic signs of forgery coupled with way low prices for classic items that have no business being in China in the first place.

So, have fun but don't worry too much. There are any number of long-term reliable eBay sellers you can confine your purchases to.

ASUtodd

The problem I have, and see, with the Chinese counterfeits is this.... An unsuspecting soul purcahses one of their coins, takes it to a coin dealer or sends it in for grading, and finds out it is counterfeit. That person then relist the item on ebay so that they can get back their money. Basically the unscrupulous counterfeiter making it harder for everyone because, to be honest, I have troubles spotting a counterfeit on some of these older coins. If someone with good feedback post a coin up I wouldn't be able to pick out the counterfeit, unless there are some really good pics posted in the auction. Oh well...... so is life!
Merry Christmas!
Todd

spoon

<< <i>The problem I have, and see, with the Chinese counterfeits is this.... An unsuspecting soul purcahses... >>

Then we are in "a fool and his money" territory. No need to explain further.

There indeed are reputable sellers (and buyers) based in China. But the prevalence of counterfeits requires an extra bit of knowledge on the part of the buyer. If you didn't know about the situation, you probably don't know much about what you collect either. I have no sympathy for someone willing to spend large sums of money on things they know nothing about and merely think cute--I know people who could better spend that money!

If someone was dumb enough to buy one only to find out it is counterfeit and then lists it without boldly mentioning that it is FAKE, then they are unscrupulous all on their own--the counterfeiter isn't making it harder in that regard.

lordmarcovan

THIS is when it gets frightening.

Fountainhead

Actually, it was quite natural for old European coins to end up in China. For millenia, right up to the nineteenth century, Europe experienced a drain of precious metals to China and India to satisfy its appetites for silk, spices, tea, and porcelain. Europe had very little else to offer them in return, save for some honey and saffron, I think. It's just unusual for all that precious metal to have survived intact in the form of coins, rather than melted down and used for jewelry or decoration.

mrearlygold

The highest graded Polish coin that I bought so far, I bought raw from a seller on ebay, in China.

wybrit

THIS is when it gets frightening.

You ain't a-kidding, LordM. To my eyes, that fake looks pretty good (of course, I know as much about Liteside coins as my 10-year old does).

It was only a matter of time before they got good at this. I just found a post from a thread of a couple of years ago predicting this very thing.

I don't think we should be posting ideas on how to make the fakes or methods of passing them better, folks (on the liteside thread I see all kinds of wonderful pointers we are giving our counterfeiting friends).

I'd sure like to know what plans the major TPGs have to address this issue. It could torpedo the coin market.

BBQnBLUES

Here's a typical example of a coin I'd LOVE to own for my type set.... but can't trust the seller ;(

Wish there were such a thing as an Escrow account to buy from a foreign seller & once the coin is certified (by one of the "Big 3") funds could be transfered / completed...

1867 HongKong Half $

Meiji

The 1867 Hong Kong Dollar looks fake to me.

The lines are uneven (Fat in certain places and skinny in other)
The color looks like pewter/pot metal
Uneven wear on the outer rim area before the dentils
Fat relief and legends, not sharp.