eBay Seller Counterstamps the Medals/SCDs that They Sell

MedalCollector

There is a seller on eBay that counterstamps medals that they sell with their eBay user id.

The medals are usually modern and relatively low-value, but the counterstamp could be classified as uninteresting or unattractive. Is this a strong marketing technique? Is this something that collectors will value decades down the line? What do you think about this practice?

Disclaimer: I am not connected with this seller in any way. This thread is not meant to bash this practice or the seller, nor is it meant to attract attention to this seller's listings. I'm just curious what other exonumia collectors think, as I run into this seller's listings from time to time.

See an example here.

JBK

I have seen those. I like counterstamps, but I am not 100% sold on the value of randomly counterstamping medals.

btwini

I don't like the idea of defacing collectibles. But I could get behind it a lot more if it was an actual store or corporation stamp instead of some weird username

Weiss

LOL. Let's see one of the TPGs straight grade and slab them.

CaptHenway

Dumb.

BillDugan1959

Certainly adds NOTHING to the collectibility of the pieces, and almost undoubtedly a negative.

KellenCoin

I believe it reduces the value of the medal.

BruceS

I think a watermark on his photos would be sufficient. He's just ruining the merchandise, I don't get it.

SCDHunter

I read the fine print and it appears that the profits from these medal sales are for a charity. I don't know if the charity is behind the counterstamp. Just an observation on my part.

Small Forest is a serious SCD collector. He has published some SCD price guides in the past, as well as a series of medals in 2008, celebrating the publication of the revised HK So-Called Dollar book.

Zoins

The 2008 Small Forest medals may be the 2nd edition of HK SCDs. Can't find a pic of it now.

Treashunt

@CaptHenway said:
Dumb.

ditto

ricko

I would not buy any item counter-stamped with a sellers mark...That disqualifies a piece for me. Cheers, RickO

TommyType

It seems to be a complete absence of understanding about what collecting is all about!

Would you buy a classic car with the previous owners name painted on the rear quarter panel? A Van Gogh with the auction house logo printed in one corner? An antique desk with a companies name carved into the top?

Seems the seller has more pride than sense. (Then again, wasn't there an old-time collector who marked his coins? Nothing new under the sun....)

1630Boston

I don't see the appeal, but to each his own

Zoins

The items have been sold. There were 3 SCDs in the sale, 2 counterstamped pieces and a NGC slabbed (non-counterstamped) piece. The 2 counterstamped ones were probably free since the NGC slabbed piece cost $40 to slab and the set of 3 sold for $37. The description is similar to the widget one we saw recently, emphasis mine:

smallforest said:
That's correct! Although the chances are infinitesimally small, it is just possible that one of these three medals was owned or handled by Bonnie & Clyde. After all, it was in a '34 Ford with a V-8 engine that they were ambushed in.

Even if they didn't have a thing to do with these medals, what we have for your bidding pleasure is three medals. One of them is graded and slabbed to be in 61 condition. It is most commonly identified as HK-466 as it is listed in "So-Called Dollars" by Hibler and Kappen. The other two medals are COUNTERSTAMPED 'smallforest', the one is an example of the aforementioned HK-466; the other is a companion piece also issued for the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair held in Chicago, Illinois which is one of the 50 states found in the United States of America.

As to the slabbed piece. I have to be honest because it costs a minimum of $40 to get a medal graded and slabbed, I would not have sent this in for grading. It doesn't have great eye appeal and, although it is difficult, it is possible to find these in the mid-60's. The reality is that most of these have been adored by people with grubby little paws so it is not actually easy to find any of these medals in mint state.

Do beware of fakes. All of mine are the real deal.

BillDugan1959

@TommyType said:
It seems to be a complete absence of understanding about what collecting is all about!

Seems the seller has more pride than sense. (Then again, wasn't there an old-time collector who marked his coins? Nothing new under the sun....)

I can think of one classic American coin collector and perhaps one classic Russian coin collector who 'marked' their coins on a limited basis, but the mark was very small and placed in a non-focal area or in a "busy" part of the coin design.

Somebody who marks their stuff in the way being done here has a significant psychological/ego problem.

Kove

@GoldenEgg said:
This thread is not meant to bash this practice or the seller

I don't know about bashing the seller, but I would definitely bash this practice...

RogerB

Marked 1804 dollar?

pocketpiececommems

Not Smart. Would not bid

Cougar1978

I would not buy from them and shocked they would deface the material they sell. Return them. Would not blame you if u neg them.

JBK

Its not that they "deface the material they sell", but that they sell material that has been "defaced", as in counterstamped. There are many sellers on ebay doing the same thing with counterstamped coins, hobo nickels, etc.

I collect counterstamps, and many of them (including many of the most desirable ones) were created by someone advertising something.

As long as they are not defacing medals that have real value, then what is the harm? My guess is that they things they are marking have no real market value or demand. They apparently are very knowledgeable about tokens and SCDs, so they would be able to make that distinction better than I.

Zoins

@JBK said:
Its not that they "deface the material they sell", but that they sell material that has been "defaced", as in counterstamped. There are many sellers on ebay doing the same thing with counterstamped coins, hobo nickels, etc.

I collect counterstamps, and many of them (including many of the most desirable ones) were created by someone advertising something.

As long as they are not defacing medals that have real value, then what is the harm? My guess is that they things they are marking have no real market value or demand. They apparently are very knowledgeable about tokens and SCDs, so they would be able to make that distinction better than I.

Good point. The medals here are very common, low priced and low in demand so it's hard to see the harm. I follow these and would be surprised if more than a handful of people here follow them, much less own one.

At some level, it reminds me of people using old stamps as postage except those typically get thrown away after.

JBK

@Zoins said:

At some level, it reminds me of people using old stamps as postage except those typically get thrown away after.

I do that myself. Mint stamps from decades ago (even 40-50 years old) are readily available at a discount, so I save 30-40% on postage costs (sometimes I can get it to 50%). The old stamps are beautiful but there are way too many of them, and no where near enough collectors to justify their preservation.