So, I dont go on Ebay very often. Just once and again to see out of curiosity. Ebay seems worse that it ever was, with a huge number of outright fakes (many questionable). A couple are below: Interesting. What else can one say? Ignorance or artistic license? I guess some have seen Zach's (debatable) coin and decided it was worth a shot! This one is more deceptive. Seems fairly genuine at a quick glance, but their mistake is that is should be electrum and not silver. I could go on, but I do wonder about all this. Most the fakes seem to come from Spain these days. Most are not very good but many would easily fool a novice. And I wonder, someone has to carve the dies, prepare flans, then strike them, then hopefully avoid detection. Doesnt seem like a worthwhile enterprise, but then again if they are selling hundreds or even thousands on Ebay over time, the money does add up.
Since it was brought to my attention by the sharp and more educated eyes on this forum that a couple of my coins are fake I have been using ebay as a learning tool. I look over the questionable coins trying to figure out what stands out as not being right. Some are obvious to me but others just don't look right but I can't put my finger on what it is. It's a good learning tool.
I personally decided when I began this hobby to avoid eBay, and avoid any online dealers who are neither on vcoins or on this forum, and to avoid any auction house that doesn't specialize in ancient coins or has questionable reputation. Even then I've bought two fakes (one spotted by a forum member and one I caught myself), but they were refunded. But two fakes in 100+ coins is a lot less than if I had gone the eBay route or Craigslist, or something of that sort. Had I followed that path I'd probably would have bought 20 or 30 fakes by now instead of just 2.
As shi**y as ebay can be, I can credit getting some fantastic bargains, many a quarter at what they would be on Vcoins or some other avenues. So really many are missing out.
Although eBay is a minefield of Ancient fakes, I have several Sellers whom I trust and buy from. I learned long ago to avoid various sellers, but to stick to a few I like.
The problem is considering eBay as a seller. They sell nothing but they are a type of sales venue like live auctions, flea markets, coin shows, brick and mortar stores and price lists. There are some really fine dealers on eBay and a bunch of crooks. There are auctioneers that are becoming famous for handling fakes and toolies. Rather than trying to make it seem simple, I prefer to say we should either know the coin or the seller (line stolen from Joe over on Forvm). I'm glad you don't like eBay. I have snipes set on half a dozen coins and received one I like in the mail today. The more of you that patronize the sellers of these, the more I'll have to pay. Keep spreading the word.
Not sure what the dealer said about the Jana-Lion, but it is interesting looking. It might have been better with the heads of Alexander the Great & Hercules in lion skins.
I have a few trusted sellers I know and sometimes go to on eBay. People can say all they want but I find prices on some coins to be more reasonable then a lot of sellers on other sites.
Is there a list somewhere on this site of members of this forum who are also dealers? That would be very helpful. I, too, buy coins from eBay every now and then, and I'm very pleased about all the bargains to be found there. But I also sell duplicate coins from my collection on eBay, and I rarely get even half of what a coin is worth. (Gee, why is that?) So it's a double-edged sword for me. Ideally, I would buy from eBay and sell someplace like VCoins--I think a careful dealer could do pretty well doing this--but I'm just a hobbyist, not a dealer, and the small volume of coins that I sell wouldn't come close to justifying this expense.
