Everything is being faked these days, isn't it?

shirohniichan

I guess I've been away from eBay for too long, but I was surprised to see replica small silver and base metal coins being sold from China. Some weren't particularly rare (an 1875 25 kopeki isn't rare, is it?). It made me feel good not buying a harshly cleaned 1875 Straits Settlements 20 cent piece I saw Heritage offering earlier this year or last year. It looked funny. If they're being offered on eBay with the "REPLICA" stamp on them, I'm sure there have to be lots more without the disclosure.

What is the least valuable coin you've seen copied?

spoon

Oh, there are tons.. I've seen way too many counterfeits of coins valued under $20 this year. Really strange.

I think one of the contenders for the cheapest and funniest has to be the 1877 Queen Elizabeth jubilee crown.

lordmarcovan

The surprisingly good fake Bust dollars in the surprisingly good fake PCGS and NGC slabs are the really scary thing.

It ain't just "1908" silver Eagles or "1877" QE2 crowns or bubbly cast fake Bust dollars anymore. Some of them have gotten downright crafty, and skilled.

Kind of makes one nostalgic about the old junk they used to crank out.

I hate to say it, but I do not think I will ever again buy a coin from a seller in China, no matter what. Not that I have bought many. I do recall selling one or two to China, but not the mainland. I think I sold a couple pieces to somebody in Hong Kong, once.

Aethelred

I have seen fake 1971 Ike Dollars, a fake 1898 Brtiish Penny, you name it, they will fake it!

BobSav

Most of the offers on E-bay for "replicas" aren't marked replica when you receive them, they only state that to get away with it on ebay.

Bob

lordmarcovan

Replicas abound in the ancient coins. They clutter up searches on eBay so badly that I wish eBay would force people to use the replica categories, but they apparently don't. As long as they're clearly marked as replicas and sold as such, they let people list them in the regular categories.

Mind you, I didn't do much ancient coin shopping on eBay, far preferring VCoins for that sort of thing. One of the few exceptions I made happened to be one of the keys in my old Roman set, though: a Pupienus sestertius. Normally you'd be crazy to buy something like that on eBay, probably, but the one I bought was a Wildwinds-published plate coin.

spoon

Yep, everything is faked nowadays:


French seize 10 tons of counterfeit chocolates

...

The customs office said the fake Ferreros confirmed a trend seen in recent years of counterfeiters moving on from luxury goods like leather handbags and expensive perfumes to more day-to-day consumer goods like food, medicine and car parts.

...

AuldFartte

<< <i>I have seen fake 1971 Ike Dollars, a fake 1898 Brtiish Penny, you name it, they will fake it! >>



Good lord, why would anyone waste the time and effort to fake those things???