My friend recently purchased 2 Whitman Cent albums at a very small auction. He won the 2 albums, nearly full, for about $10! When I was over visiting one night he asked me if I could look them over for errors. As I was glancing at one album he was looking at the other. He asked if theyre were any famous wheat cent errors and I told him about the 1955 double die. He immediately yelled out .."I Got One!!". I laughed and told him to relax and that there was no way. When he showed me I couldnt believe it. This guy just found the holy grail of mint errors! Anyway, knowing I sell error coins on ebay, he asked if I would sell it for him. Knowing that this would bring attention to my other errors, I obliged(I was also going to get a new metal detector out of the deal). I listed it on ebay starting at .99 with now reserve. A few hours before the auction ends I get an email from some ebayer saying that this is a fake from china! I had hundreds of views and a lot of bids and this was the only ebayer who emailed me saying it was a fake. So, the coin sells and I ship it. As soon as I got back from the post office I get an email from ebay. It read...."We are sorry but we had to cancel your auction because a member of ebays 'Coin Watchdog' community has brought it to our attention that this is a fake. I emailed the buyer and told him about the ebay message. He returned the coin back to me and I was happy in a way because I was expecting a better price. Ebay also tells me that if I want to relist the coin, it must be graded by one of the reputable grading companys. Here are a few questions maybe you CoinTalkers can clear up 1) Is this a fake? 2) Who are these so called experts in ebay's "Coin Watchdog Community"? 3) Has ebay ever pulled your listings unjustly? 4) Should I get this coin conserved and graded, graded, or dont even bother? The person who won the auction got a great deal. When I get this coin graded it will sell for a lot more and I will want to show him what it sells for. Ebay may have just screwed this guy out of a great deal. Coin weighs 2.9 grams
That's not the real deal, looks cast. The real example would have the die gouge in "Liberty" and it would have the die polish lines on the reverse coming off the T in Cent. That and Lincoln isn't looking like his old self.
I'm thinking the CFe Group (Coin Forgery eBay) finally got one right. Yep, they're the self-appointed overseer of all coins on eBay... and often use "gestapo like" tactics in their pursuit to cleanse eBay of any fake, forgery or replica coin. Sometimes they become overly ambitious, and on a slow day have been known to "ding" a genuine coin (which has gotten them into a little trouble in the past, including NARUing of their founder).
Sigh.....Well thanks anyway. The black corrosion, and how it was found, made me think it could have been real. Im suprised only one person messaged me about it when it was up for auction. I had over 50 watchers and a lot of bidders. I was told that ebay's experts are a joke. A friend of mine sells civil war relics and was on the show Pawn Stars. He is one of the leading experts in the field. He does freelance work for museums authenticating relics. Ebay's experts pull his auctions down all the time and he just laughs it off. He says ebays experts are just rival sellers. They flag his listings until ebay pulls the listings. Then they email him asking to buy the item outright for a fraction of what its worth. What should I tell my friend to do with this coin? Send it to the SS?
"Unjustly"? Ebay had every right to pull this listing. The buyer did get a great deal as he was saved from throwing money down the toilet. If anyone got screwed, it was your "friend" who bought the worthless "coin" in the first place. The fact is that ebay stopped a bad sale, even if it was unintentional, to a probably unsuspecting and less than knowledgeable buyer. Hopefully in retrospect, you can see this as a good thing. Keep it as an educational example, destroy it, mark it as a copy, etc, etc. Whatever you choose, it would be best to not allow it to get into the hands of someone else who cannot identify it as a fake.
I miss the good 'ole days of when someone would go on a three page rant about why it was a "doubled die", not a "double die". :devil:
Im also suprised only one person messaged you but to be honest, when I see fakes, I just report them and not always message the seller. That fake is a very modern one but also very badly made.
