Scam? Huge coincidence? All these 3 day no reserve auctions of mega key date Lincolns...

LincolnsRule · July 18, 2005 4:46PM

Different sellers, none with much feedback as a seller. All have lousy scans (except 14-d). All are 3 day no reserve auctions and only take paypal.

11-d This is a $10K coin that needs the right buyer, not one to auction in 3 days no reserve.
14-d Looks like the coin Ira sold on ebay a few months ago. Looks like Ira's picture.
25-s
26-s

edited to fix a link

wjd283 · July 18, 2005 4:50PM

<< <i>This is a $10K coin that needs the right buyer, not one to auction in 3 days no reserve. >>

Just the amount of feedback this one has would make me stay away.

tjkillian · July 18, 2005 9:20PM

The 1914-D picture looks just like the kind that Ira Stein takes. I would not trust it.

Tom

MadMarty · July 18, 2005 9:22PM

South Fla... Some one should pay the seller a visit... Sounds very fishy to me!

RBinTex · July 18, 2005 10:28PM

Scam-a-rama

joefro · July 18, 2005 11:32PM

Is it just me or does the date on the 1911 slab look altered? The 11 looks slightly clearer and thinner than the 19 part of the date. Could just be me though, it's tough to tell anything from those pictures. I mean, it would be pretty easy to do I would imagine??

joefro · July 18, 2005 11:34PM

Then again, i guess it's just as easy to steal a pic from someone. It might take longer for someone to notice if they altered the date from another year. Beats me but definitely fishy.

coinguy1 · July 18, 2005 11:41PM

I'd lay huge odds that it's a scam.

Smittys · July 19, 2005 12:17AM

They all looks like hijaked accounts.
Scam

koynekwest · July 19, 2005 1:42AM

This appears to be the same scam that has been going on for months. The real "owner" of these coins owns nothing but stolen images. He then recruits "Brokers" or "Seller's Assistants" (always people with little feedback and no knowledge of coins-who in their right mind would open coins like this at such a low price with NO reserve?-to list these for him on ebay-probably with the promise of a cut of the selling price. When the winning bidder doesn't get his item, guess who's left holding the bag? I was one of those winning bidders-fortunately, I only lost $25.

I've forewarned several of these "brokers" and they subsequently removed the listings. I've also alerted ebay to the scam-of course, to no avail whatsoever. This scammer has already made thousands doing this and it looks like he'll continue to do so.

JadeRareCoin · July 19, 2005 1:49AM

The 11-D is being sold out of Midlothian, VA. Isn't that where K6AZ lives? Maybe he knows the seller, or can at least contact the seller and pay a visit to examine the coins in person.

JadeRareCoin · July 19, 2005 1:50AM

The seller has only 1 feedback, and it's as a buyer. They bought these sunglasses. Maybe K6AZ can walk around Midlothian and look for someone wearing some funky shades.

fullerfun4 · July 19, 2005 2:06AM

Notice on the 11D the seller describes it as a proof (and obviously the holder is MS). No way should anyone bid on an item from a seller of such a coin that can't even describe it.
Regards
Gary

koynekwest · July 19, 2005 2:20AM

The location of the sellers is irrelevant. These people are only working as "brokers" for the real culprit-who, as I recall, was from Florida. The "brokers" have no idea that this is a scam.

Nap · July 19, 2005 2:20AM

Hijacked accounts.

Not too often seen with coins, but it happens on occasion. Good catch.

I used to sell virtual items from an online video game. With such things, paypal offers no seller protection if the buyer pays, obtains the item, and then reverses payment. As such, it was necessary to really examine the person's feedback, previous purchases, and other recent bidding/selling activity. People that never buy virtual items are not likely to suddenly start bidding on many different things. So a little investigation is well worth the trouble in that case.

Nevertheless, people have strange bidding and selling patterns, and you can't assume everyone's a crook. A good way to be safe is to telephone the person, send them email (at their eBay and paypal verified addresses), and ask other sellers who have dealt with them whether everything went smooth and the person is legit. In my experience, the scammers tend to be younger individuals, often foolish enough to use their parents' computers, emails, phone numbers, etc, so it's not always that hard to expose the scam.

LincolnsRule · July 19, 2005 2:26AM

Is it possible to alert ebay to close these auctions down? How do I "prove" it's a scam when it is based on it being too big of a coincidence to not be?

topstuf · July 19, 2005 2:34AM

It's .......NEVER............ a bad idea to contact a seller to ask for a few

.......................... NON... EBAY ..... NUMISMATIC ..... REFERENCES............................

The last one I did that on saved me from being the "winner" of the 1813 half eagle that had been sold once BEFORE and not delivered to the FIRST buyer.

The winning bidder on the one I was considering FORTUNATELY got a call from his police dept. advising him that it was under investigation. That's ....LUCK!

An ANA membership number is pretty good too.

TorinoCobra71 · July 19, 2005 5:35AM

<< <i>South Fla... Some one should pay the seller a visit... Sounds very fishy to me! >>

Be nice MM!!! Not everyone from SFla is a crook...........

TorinoCobra71

Scam? Huge coincidence? All these 3 day no reserve auctions of mega key date Lincolns...

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