Another one to report.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-1-OZ-GERMAN-999-24K-PURE-GOLD-CLAD-3RD-REICH-IRON-WWI-WWII-BULLION-BAR-/320924626300?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item4ab8992d7c#ht_4409wt_1270

Selling fake gold bars. Says they are clad, but it does not say clad on the item.

 

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Oh come on. It says in several places gold clad, it says gold plating over metal, and there is even an admonition that "Remember these are not solid gold" and even mentions the thickness of the plating. What more do you want? There may be a market for these things, even though I am not part of it.

 

I swear, reading these forums on what people nag about on ebay listings makes me lose faith in humankind.

This could not be more clear unless they said "For sale, not pure gold bars". Many, many times it's stated "clad" or "over metal".

 

There is nothing wrong with this listing.

 

Isn't it against policy to sell clad bars that don't bear any marking discerning them from real bars?

 

No. And you really should educate yourself more before going off half cocked like this.

His listing is clearly stating these are CLAD bars of gold.

Really?

 

I am going to disagree and side with Detecto on this one guys.

I know its second nature to us what clad means, but its not a common knowledge item. I agree that the item itself, by stating .9999/1000 gold and not saying anywhere on the bar its not pure is a misleading item.

Even if I were to give a pass since it says clad in the title, the title ALSO states bullion. These are mutually exclusive. It cannot be bullion, (pure metal), and clad. I find the entire listing misleading and mentions the word clad just enough to legally give the seller an out, but was written to try to fool non-experts. Plus, the bar is deceptive on its face, so I am against the whole thing.

Chris

 

IMO the auction is designed to pull in a sucker who doesn't read the fine print.
Granted, it doesn't violate any eBay rules that I know of but it is sleazy.

 

I hear ya Chris, and agree in principle. However, the item is allowed under eBay rules, and a warning does pop up when you bid (informing you that the item is plated). To me, it'e similar to an unmarked replica coin, possibly to be purchased by someone and sold as genuine.

 

I think Detecto's complaint was that the bar itself isn't marked as "plated" or "mills", but only "999/1000 gold". He's thinking of the Hobby Protection Act, which requires copy coins to be marked. For bars, I think there's no similar statute.

I'd expect most buyers of gold ounce bars to do at least a cursory check of dimension and weight, if not actually putting a scratch on the thing, but you can never tell.

It bugs me to see items like this listed, but as far as I can tell there is no rule against it.

 

Thanks Jim, I didn't know a warning popped up when someone tries to bid. That makes me feel better about the bidder, but not anyone down the line.

Overall I just feel its a sleazy item that gives Ebay more of a black eye than the auction is worth. I know it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

Anyone who is going to invest in gold should do their do diligence prior to doing so. Lets assume for the moment, someone bought this piece and then tried to sell it as gold. There are several things wrong with it. First of all, I know it says it weighs a troy ounce...but do the dimensions of the bar make sense? Would a true gold bar be the same size? Someone who has bought gold before would likely know the "feel" of a gold bar. The standard dimensions for a 1oz gold bar are 42x24x2mm and this bar is 44x28x3mm. I know that gold bars can vary in dimensions...but all three cannot be bigger. This bar is clearly too big.

Secondly, it has no manufacture's stamp on it. Just about every bullion bar I have seen are labeled by who produced it. Not having one is a red flag to me.

Finally, it is clearly a souvenir piece. It's not an original Nazi bar because the logos used on the bar are not historically accurate (and if it were, it would probably be very hard to sell). The eagle clutching the iron cross is not an original Nazi image...the eagle clutched the swastika in it's talons. So, this is a contemporary piece designed to appear Nazi without using any of the "offensive" insignias. Pieces like this are normally cheap souvenir pieces...I have never seen them made from precious metals. So, IMHO all the evidence is there to determine this bar is not pure gold. One just has to think about it for a moment.

 

Detecto, I have to ask you what is your purpose in reporting these alleged frauds being perpetrated via Ebay?

 

Agreed but I still think the seller is hoping for a sucker who thinks it is solid gold.
Granted that most members of this forum would probably know better but there are still a lot of suckers out there.

 

If you scroll down to the description it clearly says"Please remember these bars are not solid gold". Nothing wrong with this to me.

 

I disagree, the seller has stated several times that it is gold clad over metal. Granted, he is not using the most user friendly language, but at least he is saying it...and several times.

 

+1

 

Let's take a look at the item description:
"RARE! 1 OZ GERMAN .999 24K PURE GOLD CLAD 3RD REICH IRON WWI WWII BULLION BAR!"


This item is:
a) not rare
b) probably not German
c) not from the 3rd Reich
d) not from WWI
e) not from WWII
f) not bullion

You're right that the buyer states it is clad several times but I still believe this seller is trolling for sucker.

 

Yeah, but it IS a bar.

 

And it is clad. I agree that the title is a stretch. But, the description is quite clear. This is not how I would sell this item...but I don't think there is anything truly wrong with the ad. It says several times that it is not pure gold and it is listed in the "plated and clad bars" section on eBay.