look at this chinese fake coin company website

http://jinghuashei.com/html/product/10100123134213487.html

they dont even put replika mark on it
this is defenately illegal
all of the coin in the website are fakes

 

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on some of there pictures they put replica on it , they seem and there very good copies.. just a fact u just cant trust the chinese..lol

 

call the fbi fraud division

 

Jinghuashei is based in China. It is NOT illegal what he is doing, he does NOT have to stamp "COPY" on his coins and of course his coins are "fake". Well, you got one out of three.

 

Don't be so silly.

 

He can counterfeit all the U.S. coins he wants and sell them, IN China.

Once he starts importing them to the U.S. they must be marked according to the HPA.

Until he ships them here to sell, he's done nothing wrong.

 

And he's been doing "nothing wrong" for many years. He had over 5,000 positive feedback comments before eBay permanently NARU'd him a few years back (and as far as I can determined, not a single coin was marked "copy"). And of course, he is now selling his high quality unmarked replicas using a number of different eBay handles.

 

He is not importing them into the US, he is exporting them from China. Perfectly legal. It is the US buyer who is importing them into the US and who is in violation of the HPA not the Chinese manufacturer.

 

Legal or not, it is still highly unethical.

 

Correct me if i am wrong but doesn't customs have right to seize any counterfeit coins that enter states.

 

We've been over this and over this andddddddddddddddd over this in this thread: http://www.cointalk.com/t191639/

The only crimes being committed is when someone knowingly sells a replica coin as an original or distributes without them being marked copy WITHIN THE UNITED STATES, not to the United States. That is illegal, that is unethical, those are the activities which are a crime. Jinghuashei is a fantastic seller (IN CHINA, a foreign and sovereign land the last time I checked) with a fantastic company, I remember him when he sold on ebay and couldn't give him enough praise for making replicas of coins available to the common man which would otherwise be unattainable to your average collector. Replicas are here to stay, get used to them and start seeing them as an asset and not some dubious enterprise.

 

Correct... mere possession of counterfeit coins is, in fact, legal. However, if you try to sell them as genuine, then fraud has been committed, as described in this case:

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/counterfeit-coin-sales-investigations-spread/

 

Replicas have a place in the market and always will. I like replicas.

I have a high-quality 1854-S gold Quarter Eagle that I bought after seeing a real one in the Smithsonian Museum -- and a set of five denominations of other replica gold Liberty Heads -- as an educational aid for me and my grandkids -- because I can't afford the $400,000+ for real ones. I also have replica Morgans. They are all in 2x2s marked "Replica" although the coins themselves are not.

I also have other replicas that I enjoy owning but don't attempt to pass them off as real -- because I could never afford the real ones in as good condition. These include Uberti-made 1800s-era Colt pistols and rifles that are better made and work better than the originals. There's also a replica Custer U.S. 1873 Single Action Army pistol, made to exact specifications (even made in the old Colt factory in Hartford, CT), antiqued, and properly marked -- but I'm not pretending it's real and don't present it that way to others. A real one in only decent condition would cost at least $25,000.

I and many other people also have inexpensive prints of expensive paintings that allow us to own and enjoy something we couldn't otherwise have. I have purchased replica Rolex watches in Hong Kong, mostly for the fun of owning such a thing. I have a replica exotic reptile watch band. I would love to have a replica 1965 Shelby Cobra 427.

However, the problem is not that replicas are being sold and that there are people like myself who are happy they are, but it's those people who either produce copies or "doctor" copies for fraudulent purposes. That's the distinction between a "copy" and a "fake."

 

A couple of posts in this tread make me wonder what the hobby is coming to.:dead-horse:

Edit to add a link to a article that a few of you that think is OK to import them need to read.
Short note is that importing the unmarked copies is illegal.
http://www.coinlink.com/Resources/coinage-acts-by-congress/1973-hobby-protection-act/

 

China is one messed up place....

[video=youtube;1HiFnUteCrE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HiFnUteCrE&feature=player_embedded[/video]

 

That's where the US laws should change , I'd favor a law modeled after Canadas . Where any Canadian Legal tender coin is illegal to copy .

 

Even if you don't sell your copies they will eventually end up in the market , none of us live forever and without the copy mark on them the higher quality fakes can and will fool your heirs . If you really don't mind that they are copies then please mark them so future collectors will know what they are . The quality of some of these fakes are getting harder and harder to tell apart , even for the experts .

 

Per the quoted URL above, the exact words of the law are as follows:
Sec. 304.6 Marking requirements for imitation numismatic items.

"(a) An imitation numismatic item which is manufactured in the United States, or imported into the United States for introduction into or distribution in commerce, shall be plainly and permanently marked “COPY”."

This stands out to me clear as day: "for introduction into or distribution in commerce,..." That says it all right there. Clearly, importing replicas for your own personal use and not spending them at a food store or distributing them without the word "COPY" is not illegal. I scored high in English comprehension and it shows.

I'm beginning to like this Hobby Protection Act. I literally had no idea one way or the other if buying replica coins from a foreign country was in compliance or not as I couldn't care less what some law that was written before I was even born had to say about how I choose to enjoy my hobby. I also thought that this was interesting to read: "...the United States be marked with the word “Copy” or the year of manufacture." So instead of having the word "COPY", all you need to do to make them in compliance is to stamp them with the year you believe they were made. I guess if I were to select this option, I would stamp most of mine with 2007 or 2008 as that is when I bought them. Thanks for posting LindeDad, the link you posted was most enlightening.

 

Have to say watching that video makes me sick... Not sure it should be here... Maybe I'm just not as desensitized as some.

 

I heard about that story but didn't watch the video until just now. I feel that it has no place in this thread or on this forum except in the "General Discussion" area.