From time to time, I check out Ebay for these coins. I can never get myself to bid on one of them (I think of all the Morgans I can buy with that cash), but found an interesting one. I'm not very good with telling fakes apart, but this one was just way to obvious. Sold for $1650. Seller doesn't accept returns. What do you guys think? http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages...29315059,629315029&formats=0,0,0,0,0&format=0
I wouldn't want to call that one without having it in hand. If I really wanted to bid on it I would base my decision as much on the feedback and apparent bona fides of the seller as on the pictures. From the link I can only see the pictures, so I cannot judge on the rest.
I think I should buy that 5 ton press I was looking at and start listing my uh, original, uh, coins on Ebay. No returns of course. But don't worry, they are all original!
Looks strange. The photos are not good enough for me to tell me anything. There are known counterfeits of this particular coin. I don't have problem buying raw coins but I don't like the edge of this coin. Also, the price seems to be rather low if this coin is in XF condition.
With no returns I would never have bought it. What GXseries said was true, but I would say more than just "known". They have been fairly heavily counterfeited, but since they are supposed to be platinum weight is a big key.
More fakes than real exist of platinum imperial Russian. Most aren't made from platinum which is a dead giveaway. However supposedly several fakes have been holdered.
I would never buy russian platinum coins without first having the material analized. There are fakes wich actually are made of real platinum, but the platinum derived for the original coins differs from platinum produced according to a modern standard.
Agree 100% on the edge, the denticles look much different at 12:00 than at 06:00 which should set-off the 5-alarm "fake" bell.
Just because the seller doesn't offer returns doesn't mean that a buyer is SoL. eBay warranties against fraud, and there would be a good chance of getting a refund on that if it didn't test out.
Even if it's real, the coin looks like it has been abrasively cleaned and is probably not worth that much over melt.
Please let me know where you can buy such cleaned genuine platinum coins for 'not worth that much over melt' and I'll buy a hoard of them and turn them around for instant profit. I'm dead certain you cannot find them in such prices regardless of damaged / cleaned condition.
I too would be willing to pay significantly more than melt for these in any condition (assuming authenticity). This is not just some generic bullion coin but a fairly scarce and desirable coin.
