Misinformed people buying and selling counterfeits or junk at inflated prices
stevepk
Posts: 238 ✭✭✭
I like to browse Craigs List for entertainment value and am amused by the ridiculous coins posted for sale. One recent example was a poor copy of a 1776 Continental dollar with a request to simply 'make an offer'. I sent the seller a message to express interest and titled it 'Replica 1776 Continental Dollar'. The seller responded, and I quickly told him (or her) that unless we both agreed this was a copy, would not reach an agreement on a price and that a genuine 1776 Continental dollar was worth at least $10,000. I also informed the seller that authentication by PCGS or NGC would be necessary as he insisted it was genuine based on the omission of 'copy' stamped onto the coin and his story the coin was found in an old house built in the early 1800's.
Apparently the seller did not understand the meaning of the word 'replica' as he (or she) was taken by shock later when I informed the seller the coin was not genuine. Take Craigs List out of the picture for a moment and tell me how often someone pays thousands of dollars for a poor counterfeit. Essentially the seller is saying:
- This coin is genuine based on my claims and despite the obvious mushy details or the dozen other red flags.
- I will not submit the coin for authentication, nor will I take any effort in the process of selling
- I want things to come easy for me in life, and I don't want to work for anything
- I don't expect a potential buyer to be knowledgeable or give two seconds thought before spending thousands of dollars
- I expect people to believe anything I tell them and have the most optimistic and imaginative views possible
This is more of a question to the dealers on this board. How often does someone with no knowledge in coins come in with an obvious counterfeit with intent to sell, yet they express zero interest whatsoever and are unwilling to educate themselves or put forth any effort? How often does someone actually buy an obvious counterfeit or a total piece of junk for big money without doing any homework? I see these ridiculous offers on Craigs List and Ebay, and I am sure they are prevalent elsewhere. I know everyone wants a deal, but at some point I would imagine just about anyone would say 'Time Out' to themselves and apply a bit of logic before spending. I have never seen such a transaction in person, but it makes me wonder if they actually take place, and to what extent the lunacy exist. They are plastered all over Ebay, so apparently someone is biting, right?
Comments
I get people in all the time with cast copies of those continentals, draped bust , flowing hair dollars, mass cents, other colonials, etc. Many leave disappointed, others simply just don't believe you and leave mad.
Must be similar for the PLATINUM or GOLD plated state quarters.
I suspect that the great majority of sellers of this counterfeit trash are well aware of what they are selling. They just change their story line as needed.
I don't know if "Misinformed" is the right adjective. More like "Uninformed".
Let's face it: Coin knowledge it not universal. It's a little corner of the mass of human knowledge, and not encountered on a daily basis by your average human.
If you don't know coins, (and the vast majority of the population doesn't), they look at the date, find a reference (of questionable accuracy), and pluck out a price. Bing, bang, boom. They have a coin worth $10,000!!!
Now, the BUYERS of those "classic rarities" are the ones I have to question. These are probably the same people who wouldn't buy a used car without a mechanic looking at it, but will buy based on the same limited information the seller is using?
I think there are probably fewer completed transactions than we might assume. At least I hope so.
And yet nobody will buy my $400 new lawnmower on craigslist for $125
Years ago, pre-internet, we had a local dealer who was notorious for cleaning coins. I had a customer come in, I had never seen him before, and he expresses an interest in putting together a pre-1940 set of Lincolns. I tell him that it was a noble quest and he buys an inexpensive coin or two from me. I go on to explain that this will take him some time and travel, as it was highly unlikely that these pieces would be found locally. I inquired about his experience, he had very little, so I spent an hour or so educating him on what he's looking for. He comes back a week later and proclaims 'how wrong I am, these coins are "easy" to find'. Then he pulls out a pile of Lincolns whose source I recognize right away. High grade polished junk with REAL numbers on the 2 by 2's. I asked if he paid those numbers. Yup ! It occurred to me that the education I had given him the week before was a waste of time. I told him to take the coins back and be happy, very happy, if he could even get half his money back.
Sometimes you just can't help these type of people. As much as you would like to.
I don't think anyone actually pays "thousands of dollars" for the counterfeits like that.
But I know for a fact that folks have paid hundreds for them and have offered them to me for "thousands".
It's all about greed and getting a great deal and getting over on someone else.
Last summer, am aquaintence of mine called me asking if I'd be interested in buying some gold bullion. As we talked, I start getting an uneasy feeling. Getting down to it, he'd paid a little over $5,000, all the cash in his safe, for 27 ounces of "gold".
Soon as he said that, I said "ya got took, they are not real".
He gets a little hostile, "how do you know, you haven't even seen them?" I don't need to see them to know they were fakes.
In the end, he thought he'd scored $32,000 worth of gold for $5,000. He sold the one real 1oz bar for spot.
You can always tell the individuals that were conned from the con artists. The one's that were conned get genuinely hostile when you tell them the facts (immediate denial and anger to cover their shame at being conned)... the con artists become a bit indignant and usually leave in a bit of a contrived huff...and move on to the next target. Cheers, RickO