I'll bet you didn't know this...

I have personal experience with paypal regarding an transaction involving a coin from the 12th century AD. This happened to be minted in a town that is currently in Iran. I have one advice for the topic starter: do not put to much energy in this, it is a waste of effort. I have done it before, and just got computer generated standard reply mails. Even their initial accusation contained factual errors. No single reply to counter my evidence that their interpretation of the law was wrong, including direct OFAC support for this.
(By the way even the names under their e-mails are likely fake. Makes it look more personal. You can never get in touch with these people in person) They blocked all further possibility for appeal until i would have signed a declaration that i was aware that i was guilty of the violation of which i was accused. My account was suspended for several months. And then all of a sudden, they ended this again without any word of explanation or excuse.
PayPal already knows all your arguments.
From the other viewpoint; If you look at the relevant US legislation parts: paypal is under legal obligation to install spying software to monitor all possible illegal transactions. Also those which according to international law and treaties are outside the US's jurisdiction. As a non-US citizen i may look differently upon this.

 

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It is all just so ridiculous....

 

You will need to PROVE to them that you did not send the coin, that you have refunded the money to the purchaser and cancelled the transaction.. I had the same thing happen to me over a 30 cent coin dated 1944 (if I remember correctly). It too was NOT sold on ebay but another source. I asked paypal if they knew where the coin was minted.. Of course not.. I informed them.. Didnt matter.. 6 weeks later I had to sign a document that I would NOT sell coins from said locations using paypal and they unfroze my account. Oh, and congrats you too are on the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) bad boy list. They asked me where said "illegal contraband" was located.. I said when the "illegal contraband" hit the fan I walked outside and threw it.. get a metal detector and I am sure you can find it. I WAS HOT!!!! Oh and when the boys in the black suits stop by.. tell em I said hello.. I wont mention the name of the country where my coin was minted but I will give you a hint.. Its in a famous city that host said countries Liberty Bell. Good Luck with this one... As stupid as it is, you will NOT win trust me.

 

This is terrific; we want updates as they happen. Although we know what they will be.

Jim care to elaborate on how your visit with the black suits went?

 

Selling pre Castro coins is illegal, while selling fake coins all around is perfectly OK !
Now I know why I don't like ebeurk/payPaul

Q

 

Doubtful. There's nothing wrong with my screen name. I don't buy/sell products from North Korea over the internet. Any coins I purchase from North Korea are from trips to Asia. As for the policy, it's Paypal's prerogative to enforce their rules as they interpret it. If you choose to use their services, you follow their rules. After all, Paypal doesn't have a monopoly on payment processing. That is one of the reasons that they're no longer allowed to block other processors on eBay: Someone in their legal team likely received an inquiry from the DoJ regarding anti-trust violations.

If you want to use Paypal, you try to follow their rules.

BTW, Paypal was very clear in their note of the steps necessary to rectify the issue. You can do one of the following:

1) Remove Paypal's name from your website as an accepted payment method.
2) Remove the coins from your website.
3) Explicitly state on the website that the coins can't be paid for with Paypal.

They have a right to protect their name/service marks as they deem fit. In this case, you might find it overreacting, but I still say it's their choice to state how they prefer their name to be used.

 

I understand what you are saying. What I'm saying is that PayPal does not specifically state in their Acceptable Use Policy that all coins from Cuba are prohibited - it merely states that users should adhere to the government's guidelines for prohibited items. Cuban coins prior to 1962 are allowed to be bought/sold/owned/traded.

eBay has specified that all Cuban items are prohibited. I didn't list the coin on eBay.