So You Want To Buy Ancients On E-Bay...

I questioned forum member’s thoughts about buying ancients on e-bay, and this is a synopsis of the thread. It is obviously not complete, so any comments I will take into account and either make an updated thread, or amend at the end of this one.


To start off, there is the Forum list of fake sellers to avoid: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=18502.0


Good advice in ancients, as well as all other coins is “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, be cautious” and “If it looks fake, beware, at least ask someone knowledgeable (CT)”.


Always check the dealer’s feedback for warning signs, although this isn’t really that indicative of bad behavior.


Without meaning to be prejudice, you need to be careful of dealers outside the United States or Canada. Particularly noted, there are many disreputable dealers in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Israel, UAE, Cyprus, Serbia and Albania, Romania, China and Hong Kong. Additionally, shipping costs from these locations can be high. Notable exceptions of reputable dealers include:


Savoca-coins

Dionysos Numismatik

Numis_corner

Numismatiklanz

Alexander Coins in Israel

Notes Hobbies in Bangkok

coin.ages

toshiba63


Other good dealers include:

victor clark

frascatius

Mortown

Lucernae

gsimonel

cody111111

Holding History

Civitas Galleries

dwest61506

ancient17

jerusalemhadaya2012



While the “Bad Guys” seem to be:


xago

emiliyan_pavlov

varina_museum

gd-gallery

coins-rare

zurqieh_dubai

ancientground



Sellers that are not “Bad Guys” but can often be mediocre include:


Highrating_lowprice



E-bay can be a place for good bargains in ancients, but be careful. Good hunting.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Why is Xago on the bad list? I've bought over a dozen Tetradrachms alone from him with no issues. I've even flipped a few for much better prices then I thought I would get recently.

Lanz should be on the bad.

 

You've got Lanz on two lists

 

Isn't it funny, admitting to buying ancients on Ebay is like admitting that you bought from K mart, back in the 80s.

Having been a K mart kid, I gotta agree with most on your list... except isn't Numismatiklanz, also Lanz? I have avoided them due to the Lanz in the name. Lol! If it's just a coincidence.

 

No cody111111 ?

Good seller... good guy!

 

ancient17 is good but sometimes expensive.

 

I don't think zurqieh sells fakes -- he's on VCoins, too. Just don't buy any "desert patina" coins from him expecting the patina to be genuine/original.

If someone sells on both ebay and VCoins, it's a good indication that they're pretty reputable. I'm pretty sure that I've never bought an ancient coin on Ebay, at least not in the last decade, from anyone who wasn't also on VCoins.

Back in the late 1990s, I bought British coins and British/French historical medals on Ebay all the time. It never occurred to me that there was much of a danger of buying fake coins; the main thing to watch out for was that some sellers greatly overpriced their coins. Which is still the case.

 

Excellent seller!

 

Agreed! Great stuff, great guy!

 

Going from suggestions people here made, anyone else think Xago is a "Good Guy?

How about zurqieh?

 

And K-Mart did have some good stuff along with the dreck.

 

US or other country?

 

my ID is actually https://www.ebay.com/usr/victor_clark

 

I will change this based on input.

 

Also Den of Antiquity sells both on Vcoins and I believe on ebay too. I have found them to be very good and professional.

 

UK

 

Not a bad guy, a good seller actually, and active on this forum from time to time.

One of the worst in the business

 

I'm not privy to any complaints that have been levied, but I've personally received a couple of coins from xago's auctions.

As I recall, I had no issues. The coins were authentic, packaged well and shipped promptly.

 

I've purchased ancients from Zurqieh many times, both on eBay and VCoins. While most of my purchases have been Attica tetradrachms and generally not Roman tetradrachms, which seem to have the desert patina others mention here, I have had no problems with his coins.

I would also recommend jerusalemhadaya2012 on eBay. He sometimes has interesting items. He is also listed on MA Shops under Barakat. He does sell antiquities, but I cannot vouch for those. I generally avoid those unless I am dealing with a well-established, experienced seller.

 

I would also like to suggest MA-Shops for the good list. Dealers are vetted, and all items guaranteed. In the rare case there is a problem with a dealer, MA-Shops will help with resolution. See: https://www.ma-shops.com/shops/search.php?searchstr=Ancient&ref=autocomplete