Thieves Arrested After Stolen Coins Found On eBay

That sounds like a perfect job for Spock to tackle. He can do that in between roll searching.

Ribbit

Ps: Have you been getting my emails?

 

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The number of comparisons are 10.3 million times the listings, not 10 times.

If there were 10 thefts and 5 listings, each of the five listings would have to be compared to each of the ten thefts. 5 listings x 10 thefts = 50 comparisons; and 10.3 million thefts times 1.4 billion listings equals 14,400,000,000,000,000 comparisons.

You're not just looking at each listing by itself, you're looking at each listing and then comparing each listing to each of the thefts.

 

Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Are we going to start talking about mathematics and statistics!

 

They have something called "Groups" that eliminate the need to check a listing for a 1909-S VDB against the theft of a 1893-S Morgan, so your numbers are still off. When you mix apples and oranges with algebra, you still get fruit salad.

Ribbit

 

Is the glass half-empty or half-full? And whatever your answer is, why?

Ribbit

Ps: Here are the constants/varibles for this equation:

Glass = 16 oz
Water in Glass = 8 oz
Glass is an OPEN container and not a CLOSED container

Second question:

Is the bottle half-empty or half-full? And whatever your answer is, why?

Here are the constants/varibles for this equation:

Bottle = 16 oz
Water in Bottle = 8 oz
Bottle is a CLOSED container and not a OPEN container (capped bottle)

Ribbit - Ribbit -Ribbit

 

Well, of course, my figures were, in a way, the extreme of possibilities but, when we discuss ebay needing to police their listings, we have to realize that it's not just coins they provide access to. There are thefts of, and ebay listings of coins, stamps, cars, electronic equipment, hummel figurines, stained glass, etc., etc. Why would we expect them to limit their policing to coins only?

There is a flaw in your logic regarding what you might expect ebay to actually look at. On the one hand you don't expect that they would pay much attention to the "cheaper" items [$1-$5000?]. On the other hand, the number of high ticket items listed are very few and far between. When's the last time you saw a listing for an 1882 $20 Gold? Or an 1870S Dollar? The truth is, the higher value items won't show up on ebay; they'll go through the underground to people who wouldn't waste their time looking at ebay.

If, in your example of a theft, ebay ignored the more common items and just concentrated on big ticket ones, nothing at all would get looked at.

 

One more item you left off the list is theft of Ebay listings. I was reading a thread about that somewhere else and it's amazing how many peeps are stealing pics off active Ebay listings and using it to "sell" the phantom item. The amount of skullduggery on Ebay is outrageous and the only way to police it is if we do it ourselves but we need Ebay to back us up and that's where everything goes wrong!

Ribbit

 

But, if you are looking for a 1909-S VDB, you still have to look at the 1893-S Morgan listing to eliminate it as a possibility. You'd also have to individually eliminate each listing for a 1964 1/2 Mustang, and each listing for a "Maple" Beanie Baby and etc. So you're going to wind up looking at every instance of theft and comparing it against every listing of everything.

I won't argue mathematics with you, I'll simply ask a simple question: can you suggest a workable and efficient way for ebay to police their listings?

 

A number of years ago, one of the major (colonial, half & large cent) copper dealers suffered the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a theft (taken from his vehicle, I believe) following a major coin show. The thieves (Russian emigrants) were caught with a small part of the loot and spent a few years in jail. The majority of the coins were not recovered. Less than a year ago, a few dozen of these coins appeared in a sale (by a Russian consigner) in an East Coast auction. The copper dealer recognized one of the coins and eventually was able to prove that more than three dozen of the consigned coins (if not all) were part of the theft. Luckily, photographic records were sufficient to prove ownership and eventually, the dealer recovered another portion of the stolen coins.

The dealer (who has been in business for decades) is a friend and not stupid. He was specifically targeted.

One thing I learned from this is to have a way to identify my coins (short of engraving my name on them ). One problem with coins is that, for the most part, provenance is hard to prove. Good photographic evidence can be a major factor in recovering stolen coins.

 

Another 4 year old relic resurrected...........

 

I know they identified the coins but I don't know if he has ever gotten them back. It has been awhile but the last I knew the auction house was putting up roadblocks insisting the dealer come to California and file papers in California courts. They were refusing to recognize the court orders from his home state where the theft occurred and the case filed. They were also reluctant to hand over the coins because, surprise they can't get cooperation from the Russian consignor. Gee I wonder why? I'm also not sure what they were going to do about the coins that the auction house had already sold.

 

I believe Tom got the (identified) coins back. I'll see him Thursday and ask what the final outcome was.

 

I just had to give you your first "Like" for this reply

Erik

 

Good, I'd like to know for sure what finally happened, and what they did about the stolen coins that they sold at auction.

 

im glad the theves got caught

 

The technology certainly exists to ferret out stolen goods at auctions. If the government devoted just a small fraction of their advanced programs and computers to go after larceny that they spend on going after terrorists they would get a lot more thieves.

And on the cracked out and resubmitted coins if the coins have not been altered in any significant ways, that too would pop up with their technologies. Currency should be a no-brainer with the serial numbers for law enforcement.

 

And that's why I've given up on eBay. I've been looking for a nice 1917 T1 SLQ. But by the time I get done examining each of those 1.4 billion listings...

 

I'm glad that ebay has finally implemented better rules on fringe or hard to verify grading services, but I really don't see the reason to buy or sell coins through them when there are many good auction companies to choose from. Plus, who cannot but be turned off by descriptions, which to put it mildly, are inflated.

"ONE OF THE FINEST KNOWN PROOF LINCOLN CENTS IN FABULOUS CONDITION AND FULL AND COMPLETE ULTRA CAMEO!!! THIS ONE PRACTICALLY GLOWS IN THE DARK AND WILL IMPRESS EVEN YOUR WIFE WHO HATES COINS! WE EXPECT BIDDING TO BE FRENZIED AND LEAD TO EYE-POPPING RESULTS!!! BUT AS A BUY IT NOW OPPORTUNITY, WE OFFER IT FOR $3599.99! ":thumb:

 

I'll bet that was a description of a 2012, too!

 

That would be a miracle.