Hey, just a warning that there a couple well made fakes of key-date morgans on eBay. Here is the listing http://m.ebay.com/itm/BEST-DEAL-BRO...3Acb4498ed15b0ab4cf6ec5171fffecbcb%7Ciid%3A10
He has them listed as reproductions. Considering his shipping nonsense, I wonder if he is filling orders from China as he gets them on eBay. New seller, no feedback. Very good reasons for his selling price.
So someone is selling fake Morgans for $8 each. Why the warning? Or were you implying it is a good deal which someone should jump on?
There is. Well, unless your name is a certain four-letter word and you've an army of fans making every ridiculous excuse imaginable as to why one is perfectly wonderful, and the other nothing but trash.
No, but they are openly offering to ship them here.... "we ship the item via USPS to USA ( 19-45 days for shipping)...."
That's perfectly legal in China as well. The seller is doing nothing illegal. Now if you buy one and have it shipped to you then YOU are the one breaking the law, not the seller. (it's illegal to import them.)
@Conder101, do you have the actual wording of the law/statute? I thought it was only illegal if you were planning on defrauding someone, selling them again as genuine, etc. Edit: I found this: "Collectible Coin Protection Act - Amends the Hobby Protection Act to make it a violation of such Act for a person to provide substantial assistance or support to any manufacturer, importer, or seller if that person knows or should have known that such manufacturer, importer, or seller has engaged in any act or practice that violates requirements for plainly identifying... imitation coins and other numismatic items." https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/2754
What you quoted is the section under the HPA that makes Ebay liable by providing the sales site for the fakes. Their is no requirement that the person importing them has to be doing it withthe intent to defraud, the mere act of reselling them, even if sold as non-genuine, is illegal if they are not marked. Actual text of the relevant section. (b) COINS AND OTHER NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—The manufacture in the United States, or the importation into the United States, for introduction into or distribution in commerce, or the sale in commerce of any imitation numismatic item which is not plainly and permanently marked “copy”, is unlawful and is an unfair or deceptive act or practice in commerce under the Federal Trade Commission Act. From what can see, if you buy them and bring them in to hold them for your personal use and never resell them or pass them on then it could be considered legal. (Of course if you pass on and your heirs sell the unmarked copies they would be breaking the law I think.) The actual text of the section you were refering to in your quote. (d) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE OR SUPPORT.—It shall be a violation of subsection (a) or (b) for a person to provide substantial assistance or support to any manufacturer, importer, or seller if that person knows or should have known that the manufacturer, importer, or seller is engaged in any act or practice that violates subsection (a) or (b). The whole text of the HPA can be found here http://www.theblackcabinet.org/collectible-coin-protection-act/
They are overpriced as you can get the same coins for $7.99 with free shipping at AliExpress:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/morgan-dollars-5-coins-1889cc-1879cc-1878cc-1894-1893-S
There was an article in the news about the Secret Service arresting some of these guys out on the west coast a few months ago. I actually bought one to see what the quality was and to check the detail for our web site. The seller tried to convince me that even though these are legal tender they could be faked and sold because the Mint no longer made them. I believe they have to be stamped as "copy" and sold as a novelty to skirt the law, which these guys rarely do. As I remember there were some YouTube videos on visiting one of these Chinese factories where they make the fakes.
In India also many of the sellers are frequently selling fake coins at ebay and other auctioneers. These fake coins are being purchased by Indian as well as foreign collectors. I think there are many senior numismatist on this platform of COIN TALK who can suggest us an action to prevent selling of fake coins on ebay like organisation.
There's virtually nothing that can be done from this end to stop it, other than the Secret Service taking an interest in it. And the overall problem is a tea party compared with the counterfeiting of designer merchandise, watches, etc.
Here's a few conterfeit coins from my coin clubs collection. They are easy to detect, some respond to a magnet, some aren't close in weight to a real one, and some just plain look fake.
Well, you know the story (supposedly true but who knows) of the high-valued tulip left out at the height of the craze and someone cut into it thinking it was an onion. That's one reason why gold is better than tulips as a store of value.
Once you got the coin in hand it was obviously a fake. Too light and magnetic. We actually tried to VAM it, which was not possible because the obverse was from 1881 and the reverse from a different year. Here is a link to the write up I did on the coin http://www.1881o.com/fakes.html Things like this are an interesting study and we did high res scans like we do on all our coins. When you look at the high res scan you will see that the obverse was actually struck on a used Peace Dollar die because Liberty looks like she has horns http://www.1881o.com/assets/81o-fake-obv-2200.jpg