hi - anyone familiar with dealer axismundi.com on ebay? they have great feedback - and coins seem to be backed up with authenticity etc... but... how come all their coins are absolutely perfect?? Any ideas would be so appreciated - http://cgi.ebay.com/2300-Year-Old-H...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
He probably gets tons of coins and cherrypicks the best out for sale, while wholesaleing out the rest. His statement "Should any coin, during the entire lifetime of the buyer, be found to be a modern fake, we will provide an immediate refund of all monies paid plus an extra 10% " should dispel your concerns.
Those sure are nice looking ancients! I've never bought from them, but I read their coins include a certification from David R. Sear, which should amount for something. And, they have a 110% lifetime money-back guarantee. Here's another good sign. Interesting, I'll ask around.
I can't say that coin is fake, but there have been some questions raised on the CFDL about this seller. He also has the same mailing address as a well known fakes dealer who's no longer on ebay (ashoura_traders). Some of his coins look off to me, I don't know that they are and it could just be the photography. Like I said I can't say outright that any of his stuff is fake, it would take more research, but be very careful when buying on ebay. You might want to check into this seller more on the CFDL (yahoo group CoinForgeryDiscussionList) before buying though. Or the fakes area at Forvm. Research never hurts. For myself I'll stick with VCoins and well known dealers. Note the coins don't come with a certification by Sear. They're just telling you that you can do that and if you do they'll refund you $40 after it's done. The only potential problem being that by the time the Sear cert is done (up to 8 weeks) I don't think you'd have any recourse through ebay or PayPal if they didn't follow through or something suspect came up.
Another thought--since they claim their coins are authenticated by David R. Sear, you might shoot him an email to verify this seller actually does business with him.
fake ebay coins Thank you for taking the time to write. My gutt tells me something is off though I have NO experience with coins. The thing that is curious is that they have 100% feedback. There was a post on Yahoo about a buyer on Ebay who bought an antiquity from them that he thought was stolen from the Iraq Museum. He alerted the FBI and when it came time to ship the bowl - axismundi told the buyer that the bowl was dropped and broken and they refunded his money. The seller insisted that the shards be sent anyway but axismundi declined to send them - and yet.. no negative feedback... argh. would like to buy some good coins as investment for my kids - so obviously I dont want to buy fakes! thanks again - you are awesome for ansering.
There are ton's of ways to avoid negative feedback on ebay. Feedback can only be left for 60 days so if they put you off long enough or you were to send the coin to Sear it might be after the 60 days. A lot of people tend to leave feedback on coins as soon as the item arrives instead of actually checking things out and also a lot of folks just assume what the bought was genuine. I know it can cost a bit more than going the ebay route, but VCoins is highly recommended. A lot of the VCoins dealers also have their own separate store sites with even more stuff available. The biggest thing is that if you don't know ask, which you did. Ask here or on Forvm or Ancients.info (where some great dealers hang out).
Now I see that. Hmm...do you suppose their description is a tad confusing? Ok, I take back what I said before. I'm not an expert on ancients, and initially took what they said on Sear at "face value". However, since they're not authenticated I'm going to voice my initial impressions. I'm no expert, but something's not right. Perhaps it's the centering...or simply the overall quality of the flan/edge. (Not to mention low-relief detail). Compare one of their Rhodos coins (top) to another sold by a respected dealer--see any difference? I'm going to bring this up on another forum and see what collectors think.
I went on the yahoo forum you recommended - another dealer said that axismundi sells good coins but they shill bid their auctions.... gosh this is interesting...
Like I said their coins may be good. Something just seems off to me. You always have to wonder, if they shill bid what else do they do. Another good resource for you... http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/index.php http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?board=9.0 http://www.ancients.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=27
Depends on who you ask. It's a subject of some debate. My vote goes to it being a satyr. Pan has goat horns & a goatish physiognomy while a Satyr has asses ears, a snub nose & often wears the ivy wreath of Dionysos. As far as I know Pan has no real connection with the city. It is thought that they started using a Satyr on their coins as a tribute to King Satyrus I as these coins started being issued during the reign of his son Leucon I. Some say it's Pan and that it's a play on the cities name Panticapaeum (which was named for the river Panticapes).
hehe - well i got my question to you after loking at a bunch of coins from that site vcoins.com you recommended - i saw a coin with that same head you have as your avatar - so i read up a bit on it I am learning new stuff already! Brian THANK YOU for all your info - after getting lots of feedback on my question about axismundi.com to that coin club on yahoo - it has become VERY apparent that this axismundi.com sells pure fakes! I was on the verge of spending a lot of money on their coins - but gutt feeling just kept nagging me... it all sounded too good - too "covered" - i dont know...i am VERY glad i took the time to look around the internet - and thank you thank you again for pointing me in the right direction. :high5: PS... yeah Satyr seems more correct... doesnt look like Pan - Pan is a bit less street wise looking than this well seasoned character - there is more innocence in Pan. NOT an iota of innocence in the above face!
I checked out the CFDL too--that's very helpful! Thanks for referring it! :thumb: I guess there's something to be said for working from "gut feelings"--before I have the experience to give specific reasons? Since my collecting is moving towards older coins, I need all the knowledge I can get--thanks!
yeah ! Seems that the concensus is these guys axismundi sell fakes and bad ones at that! dayum...so great to have these honest helpful guys on the net! we would all have handfuls of Bulgarian fakes!! Good luck to you!
If you're going to do ancients to any great extent it's a very good idea to spend some time at places like Ancients.info and Forumancientcoins.com to name a couple. Also a good idea to grab a few books. Check out Wayne Sales series of books... http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/sayle...e/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=21 ...also David Sear's books are good. There are of course tons of more specialized books out there too (some of which get very pricey). Even just poking around on VCoins or CNG, Harlan Berk or Freeman & Sear's site (to name a few) can help you get a better "feel" for things.
