Auctioneer liability for selling counterfeit coins?

Casman · October 1, 2013 1:23AM

Sorry if this has been asked before.

I was watching a case this morning wherein the Plaintiff (unrepresented) filed suit against the auctioneer for selling him counterfeit coins.

The defense lawyer was arguing the suit should have been brought against the county, not the auctioneer. In any event, I had to leave for a conference, got in a fight, and missed the outcome.

phnatacc · October 1, 2013 1:31AM

<< In any event, I had to leave for a conference, got in a fight, and missed the outcome. >>

There has to be a better story here than auctioneer liability...

STONE · October 1, 2013 1:34AM

Yeh, the auction house/company should be liable.

rec78 · October 1, 2013 1:50AM

Most garden variety auctioneers say "You are seeing what you are buying, everything is sold "AS IS" , no returns.", or something to that effect. They do not have the knowledge to recognize a fake coin in many instances. In this case I would say that the auctioneer is not responsible since they are only an agent.(Yes, I know all about the ebay arguement). However if they sell fake coins to my understanding they still have to take them back and get the money back from the consigner.
On the other hand a major auction house that specializes in coins, such as Heritage, would probably be liable. I am not a lawyer and these are my opinions only and may or may not be fact.

Bob

JCMhouston · October 1, 2013 2:16AM

I don't believe title can pass on counterfeit items, so the auction house would have to take the coins back and then try to recover from the consignor.

Casman · October 1, 2013 2:19AM

This was one of the yearly county auctions for property seized by the sheriff's department. They use the same auction outfit every year.

ricko · October 1, 2013 2:42AM

Did you win the fight??????? Inquiring minds want to know... Cheers, RickO

Casman · October 1, 2013 3:22AM

No, it was 2 on 1. I think I coulda took the little guy, he resembled Rocky, but Bullwinkle was a huge guy maybe 390lbs.

johnny9434 · October 1, 2013 5:08AM

<< I don't believe title can pass on counterfeit items, so the auction house would have to take the coins back and then try to recover from the consignor. >>

this makes better sense.

LanceNewmanOCC · October 1, 2013 5:14AM

<< 

<< In any event, I had to leave for a conference, got in a fight, and missed the outcome. >>

There has to be a better story here than auctioneer liability...

>>

i have no idea why you added that image as it is a far stretch to connect to the context of this thread but it is fuuuuuunnnnnyyyyyy!

the only time i bet sheldon and leonard were in a physical confrontation where they actually tried to harm someone physically.

.

MICHAELDIXON · October 1, 2013 2:34PM

The auctioneer is liable for the coin, as he was the one who sold the coin. Whenever I was an auctioneer, I sold a beautiful 1955 DD Lincoln cent. It looked good, and all the dealers thought the coin was good. The dealer who bought the coin sent it to ANACS where it came back as lasered. I refunded the dealer's money, but was out the full price since it came from an estate and the estate was done. If the estate hadn't been settled, I could have asked for them to return the money, but it was my responsibility to ensure I sold authentic coins. Lesson learned: all high dollar coins had to be certified after that.

kranky · October 1, 2013 8:49PM

I'm surprised auctioneers can't use the ebay defence... "I'm only a venue!"

ebaytrader · October 1, 2013 10:13PM

The auctioneer's liability would lie in an area of his contract with the seller, and how the item was represented in the auction. At the very least, it's proper to make the auctioneer a party to the action barring any other information.

An auctioneer's oral representation at sale is binding and would at least create a secondary liability; however, if the auctioneer were but a contractual agent of the seller with an indemnity clause, the primary liability would lie with the owner/seller.

ebaytrader · October 1, 2013 10:27PM

Then again, if the buyer was a professional and viewed the lots prior to auction, there may be no seller liability.

Also, some states allow a reasonable time limit on claims of authenticity. You may be s.o.l. if you are not able to authenticate an item in the allotted time frame.

The court would have to sort these issues.

s4ny · October 1, 2013 11:34PM

I think it depends on how the lot is described. If it is described as
"1880 Silver Dollar" and it is counterfeit, it is not as described.

To take another example suppose an auction is for a
"Gold Rolex Day/Date Watch." If it is not a real Rolex
but a Chinatown "replica" the auctioneer would lose any
suit.

If it is sold as just a "gold colored watch" the auctioneer
is likely not liable.

"Not responsible for dry cleaning left for more than 60 days."
That may be the policy, but it is not the law.

CoinZip · October 1, 2013 11:43PM

<< I was watching a case this morning wherein the Plaintiff (unrepresented) filed suit against the auctioneer for selling him counterfeit coins.

The defense lawyer was arguing the suit should have been brought against the county, not the auctioneer. >>

Laws vary from State to State.

habaraca · October 2, 2013 12:51AM

Yes, lets hear more about the fight..

LanceNewmanOCC · January 24, 2014 3:51PM

<< i have no idea why you added that image as it is a far stretch to connect to the context of this thread but it is fuuuuuunnnnnyyyyyy!
. >>

unless the image of sheldon is meant to represent that you are thinking really hard about what the other reason(s) could possibly be

.

Auctioneer liability for selling counterfeit coins?

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