Well - he got me twice. A wonderful 1886 $10 Tombstone - or so I thought, so I bid high and got it. eBay said it is too late to do anything about this - so I'm stuck. This time the amount of doctoring is not as intense since the note already looked pretty good. But it is the SAME THING . . . Cut it out, wash it, press it, etc, etc. I want to know how he got the Serial number digits to become thicker, bluer, and more saturated. It almost looks like he has a Stamp that you just dial in the digits and apply right over the existing numbers. Because that serial was very faded in the Original. (click Image to enlarge)
I think the consenus on the other thread was that the seller "doctors" most of his notes. He sells little (if any) graded items, but is obviously buying low grade and (using his restoration abilities) selling as a higher grade. A highly unethical practice that borders on fraud. However, it was also concluded that eBay will do little to stop this guy. Now will be your chance legolas to post a juicy negative, warning others of his deceptive practices.
What sheisters did in the 1800's on obsolete bank notes was pretty amazing by altering things on the notes!
This seller has apparently made a recent adjustment to his sales tactics - of the notes he currently has listed on eBay, I checked a dozen or so of the more expensive ones, and none have Track and Price auction history...indicating that he's wised up to the fact that many in the buying community are checking his note’s lineage...and/or, he's getting a lot of returns from buyers like the OP.
I think you're giving the guy far too much credit. I think he's just washing and pressing the notes. The difference between the images of the notes is color temperature and contrast. Compare the two images now that I applied a blue cooling filter and increased the contrast of the "before" image.
I should have increased the color saturation a little in the original note. It would look almost the same, except with a stain and folds.
I believe he does a little more than just "clean and press", at least that's what it seems from the OP's first thread on this seller: http://www.cointalk.com/t191195/
The doctoring is more prevalent in that note. I'd love to see a high resolution (1200+ DPI) scan of the doctored note to see how it was doctored.
Banknote Restoration This is interesting. Here is a company that does paper money and comic book restoration. Check out their pictures. I am beginning to see how this is accomplished, and it probably is not illegal in any way when viewed in this light, but I am sure that an ethical person would represent their wares as restored rather than leave it for the consumer to believe it is in original conditon. http://webhome.idirect.com/~cancomic/webpagemine/index.html
You know V, I consider myself fairly intelligent, and well versed in the English language. However, this statement taxes my intellect. Is there any way you could possibly translate this into a coherent statement?
I think he means What sheisters did in the 1800's to obsolete bank notes, by altering things on the notes, was pretty amazing! Even clearer What crooks did to obsolete notes in the 1800's, by altering parts of the note, was pretty amazing!
Shyster has many commonly used alternate spellings, including shuyster, schister, scheister, sheister, schyster, shister, shiester, and schiester. It is a slang word for someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law, politics and business.
I know what a shyster is.... but I've never heard it in the context that you refer to. Maybe it was more prevalent in the 1800's to refer to "note alterers" as shysters, as there were no car salesman to sell you a lemon. Anyway, none of this has anything to do with the OP's thread concerning an eBay seller who is seemingly improving the quality of notes he has purchased in order to realize a profit.
My first comment is: If he got you once, WHY DID YOU BUY ANYTHING ELSE FROM HIM? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Next: Your only obvious recourse is to neg the seller. Should have neg'd them the first time as well.
I agree....neg the seller, regardless. But if it wasn't too much money, keep the product and the info on the history and contact the top TPG's and see if they are interested in having an example you can prove was doctored and sold without mentioning the doctoring.
Not knowing the time frame, I have to assume the OP purchased note #2 before he found out about note #1; and since he received a full refund for note #1, it would be inappropriate to post a negative.
Hey, why not make it your "hobby" to get examples like this, document it and then write a book on it and sell it?
ratio411 - actually I did not find out until later for both of them. I probably should have - but didn't realize this practice was going on. So, shame on me - yes I agree. But all I can do now is never buy ungraded Notes again. I thought that if I post it that might help other newbies that could fall into the same trap. Or if the Sellers are being checked by the buyers then maybe they will stop doing this. About 1/4 of my Notes are UnGraded. So I checked them all with the free trial of Track and Price and found a few more examples of this from other sellers. Oh well, at least I know what not to do, now.
