Disturbing Auction... BEWARE!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/1811-SILVER-DOL...372367469QQcategoryZ11976QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Check out this scam.

B

 

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What the he..........?

 

Reported.

 

It's a Spanish Colonial Reale, technically it is an American coin. I have seen many of these before in the same packaging.

 

Can I ask what the problem with it is as I have not come across these before.

Thanks De Orc

 

Although it's technically true that the 8 Reale was something along the lines of "America's First Silver Dillar," as they were considered legal tender of that value before America minted its' own dollars, the listings (he has two) are very deceptive in nature. By the time the seller's coins were minted, America's own dollars were in circulation and the Spanish coins were falling out of circulation as a result.

The coins he's selling are worth somewhere around $30-40 at most and are commonly available on Ebay at that price. I doubt my report will be heeded, because Ebay tends to side with greasy sellers, but it made me feel better.

 

Thanks appreciate the explanation as I dont realy know much about coins from your side of the pond during that period so every little bit of info is valuble.

De Orc :hug:

 

Not quite right, SuperDave. Whereas the federal government was minting it's own currency by 1811, foreign currency dominated the US market until 1857, when the government attempted to remove them from the market under federal redemption, these coins continued in common circulation for trade throughout the united states until the 1870's. Until then they were more dominant in circulation than our own domistically minted coins.

As for the value of this coin, with the cleaning and chinese chopmarks, I would say 20 dollars tops.

 

I defer to your greater knowledge, Rick. I did see one source that mentioned them still in circulation in Texas into the 1870's, but that's Texas.

It's still a greasy auction.

 

He has the user id kept secret too just in case someone does bid and he doesnt want other to contact the bidder and retract lol.

Thats how I see it!!

 

Greetings,
I really was taken when I bought one like this.It looked really great,but when it came you could tell its was cleaned,polished most likly with a wheel of some sort.I couldn't believe it.It had chop marks all over it which they said was there.This came with no returns, it said don't bid if you don't want it ect. I was out 56.00.
Bruce

 

I have one that kinda looks like that, but it is much cleaner, easier to read, and all that jazz. Just out of curiousity, the coin i have supposedly came out of a shipwreck. What should it look like as far as appearance goes in that scenario? I didn't spend any money on it, it was a freebie from a buddy, but it would be nice to know!

 

Don't worry, I didn't even know what was wrong with the auction until it was explained.

 

Y'all had me interested in this coin and I did some lookign into it also and asked the seller a simple question abotu what type of dollar it was, granted in the public questioning, and he told me to kiss his you know what lol His words not mine. I see the auction is off the board now though.

 

It's relisted with a higher opening bid LOL

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8373839329

De Orc :whistle: :whistle:

 

Is it wrong of me to ask the same question I asked the last time he had this coin listed? The difference between a Reale and an American Dollar? Anyway I had to ask. Happy bidding lol

 

There is technically nothing wrong with this auction that I can see. I agree with GD that it looks funny, but it's possible to look that funny after being obliterated by more than two dozen chinese chopmarks.

These is no real difference between an 8 reale and an american dollar, as the seller is using it... it's more a matter of jargon, but it has STRONG roots in the development of the American Dollar. 2 bits was 25 cents and based off of 2 reales, so 8 bits was equal to the dollar - and accepted in common trade AS a dollar.

Of course his coin is worth significantly less than the opening bid, but that ain't illegal, just unreasonable...

The only problem that I see is that the coin discriptions seems to imply that it circulated in the US, and while the 8 reales did circulate in the early US, this particular coin obviously was used in Asia and probably never saw US soil until it was obsolete for circulation.

 

Hi,
I had an interesting experience with one of these. These were sold like crazy in these packages on one of the shopping networks. It was one of those guys that made a 1964 Kennedy half sound like a million dollar coin.

They were selling these as the First U.S. Dollar and lying through their teeth about the information they were presenting. Their price was ridiculous too. This was several years ago when you could easily get one of these coins for around $30.00.

Anyway, I actually got on the air with the dealer and it was live, so I explained that the coin was an 8 reale piece and although was used, it was not a U.S. Dollar. On the air, and I still can't believe I got away with this. I told them that if they continue to advertise it as such, I was going to call the U.S. Attorney General's office and file a complaint.

Immediately, they changed their description of the coin.

There are probably thousands of them in this kind of packaging. While I am not making excuses for any crummy ebay dealers out there, these things show up often as they are put up by people who don't know any better.

Have Fun,
Bill