Does anyone actually buy replicas?

Does anyone actually buy replicas? I mean they must because so many are made, but why would someone want one?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Yes, people buy them...
Snipers, on ebay, like myself and many others, look for the last second bargains, I've never, but some people have been tricked enough, to snipe a 1909 S VDB at 10 cents...
So they are stuck with those, that they snipe!
Now, another reason people get them, is to fill holes in their collection. People do it with the 1933 Double Eagle, 1913 V Nickel, and so much more.
They want to say their collection is COMPLETE, and in a way it is, but it will never be 100% with those replicas

 

I would buy a replica of my favorite coin, if I could find one. Unfortunately, its unique. :'(

 

Hm... Interesting I can see how a coin with 45 seconds left going at 10 cents may look tempting, and in a rush the deceitful wording might just get you (kind of sucks)...but about the people buying because they want to "fill" the collection I don't really get I'd rather a blank in a VERY Valuable spot then know I have a fake...also if the fake cost me $6.00 for a good one I would rather have 6 bucks in real coins...but thats just me, the fake I dont think will ever appreciate because there is no cap on the making of it

 

I think there might me another reason why some people buy replicas... and you only have to take a quick look at the Coin Forgery eBay boards to know what I'm talking about.

 

Great that you think that way!
I think that way as well!
I can't stand fakes, replicas, copies...
But those CHINESE can't get enough of them...Minting our dollars, and just passing them right along
With replicas, people think that their collection just sounds better, and looks better with them in there, but I think otherwise

 

I have a stella copy proof coin from my dad.....though it is pretty and has some gold in it, it does nothing for me. I'll probably sell it.

 

I paid about ¥300 (~$2.40 at the time) at the Osaka Coin Show several years ago for a brass replica Sado Koban Kin. A real 18th Century 17.8g gold provincial piece in top condition catalogs for ¥6.5-million (~$68,000 at todays exchange rate).

'Nuff said?

 

Nope, not enough said
Because you will always have a replica, and nothing more
That replica has no value to it, only what you paid
You could have got $2.40 in real coins, or saved up the $2.40 for the real coin

 

Yeah I don't see how if the value of a coin goes up the value of the replica would go up lol....a replica doesn't appreciate in any value other than the metal it is made of so if brass went up that much good for you! lol

 

I would not buy one. A waste of time and money.

 

I have never had an interest in replicas. So it goes.

 

I guess replicas have their place. To me, replica implies "fake", which it is.

 

I don't have any that I can think of...but if I had a nice album of a coin slot that was basically unfillable (1913 Liberty Nickel, 1894-S Barber Dime, ect...) I would think about buying a marked replica to go in the slot. Maybe a nice proof one or something. That way I wouldn't have to look at an empty hole. I don't think anything is wrong with that...especially if it only cost a few dollars.

Also, what about a replica of a coin that was never made. I have been wanting to get one of those silver replica's of the 1977 Liberty Dollar but they are so overpriced I haven't bought one. If I ever find one near melt value I will jump on it.

 

Tmoney,

I'm sure Hontonai knows this believe me. He's possibly forgotten more than you'll ever know.

People actually DO buy replicas to fill a hole they never could afford. If one does that knowing it will always be a replica it is just that.

Getting ripped off by buying a replica and knowingly buying one are two entirely different animals.

That aside people do buy replicas all the time and DO get ripped off. These are generally the same people that buy "colorized" coins, gold plated quarters and the like. It spills over into stamps as well believe me I see it very often.
TV pitchmen woo these people in with their spiels. Often it is the elderly I'm afraid. Yes, they get ripped of by salesman.

How do I know it happens? Well, for starters the TV shows are still on and that costs a lot of money. The magazine ads still run and that costs money. Where it really hits home though is when these folks wander into the shop to sell this stuff.
Nothing like telling an 80 year old woman that has never collected coins that we will offer her next to nothing for something she paid $20 + shipping for IF we make an offer at all. We don't want it. It will sit on our shelves and collect dust. I've actually thrown plated coins into the drawer to give as change.

People buy a lot of "junk". Some actually have a reason.

 

Museums often buy (or make) replicas. For instance, suppose a museum wishes to display a unique coin or a rare coin of which they have only one example. If they obtain a replica they can display both the obverse and the reverse rather than only one or the other.

And museums have been known to display a replica rather than a genuine coin for security reasons.

 

I try to buy a few replicas every month so I can get a feel for them. I keep a small box filled with all my replicas. Some are good some are bad, but if you come over my house I’m sure I will be able to fool you with at least one. The last coin I bought was a replica… My friend stated that it’s the best coin I own in all my collection; little did he know it was a fake. I would never sell them as real but buying a fake for less then 5$ is a nice way to learn about coins and to learn how not to get pinched.

 

My point is still valid, why not leave that whole blank. I mean, knowingly getting a replica... I know it happens...

With how I have the above quote by me, worded, I know that people willingly buy these replicas to fill holes.
My question, would be, why bother? I mean, could just be a mental thing, that I'm not getting, but I mean, you are buying a COPY of a rare coin, to fill that hole in your collection?

 

Never be ashamed of the holes in your collection .....In my Lincoln cent Dansco
I am missing two coins 1909-S VBD & the 1914-D but there are no "holes" in the album because I put put two nice Mercury dimes in these spots to always remind me of my goals. Be proud of how far you have come instead of covering up what is left for you to obtain.......Eddie in Memphis

 

Because the hole bothers some people...it's a mental thing. I agree with you that it might be a little silly to buy one for this purpose of a key coin that is obtainable (such as a '09-S VDB Lincoln) but for coins that are truly unique or nearly so (1913 Liberty Nickel, 1894-S Barber Dime, ect...)...those holes would never be filled. It would bother me to look at a complete set in an album and have an empty hole because the album manufacture put a coin slot in it for a coin that only 5 exist of (plus, even if I had one it wouldn't be in the album anyway).