Hi guys. I found this site : http://www.alibaba.com/member/xiaocong.html 'Only for gifts', and 'we are not responable in case of fraud attempt'... Yeah, right ! Tell that to the unlucky ones who buys stuff like on eBay... Outrageous !
I have seen some of those widows mites come here on this forum with people asking if its real. Its obviously not...if they are all as fake looking as those, then there should be no problem. Its a shame they dont identify them somehow on the coin as a fake but what can you do?
Br-r-r-r!!!:foot-mouth: Terrible copies! It is good that they're tell us that it is a fakes. But I'm afraid that someone may believe that it is a genuine coins - and to buy them as a genuine coins. We have many different copies of a coins in Russia (most of these fakes were made in China).
I just do not understand why anyone would want a fake coin. I know some people may want a replica of an expensive coin they can't afford, but when it comes down to it what good is it to have a fake one unless you are a scammer buying them and trying to pass them off as real.
Replica has the intention of being a copy and is labeled as such, fake is trying to pass as real, at least in my eyes.
Well, I have a small collection of fakes, I do find them interesting. I also think it is a good idea for everyone to have a few, it helps to educate yourself so you don't find yourself on the wrong end of a scam.
Good point. In my opinion a replica is an exact copy of a genuine coin. Most of these items however will have a mark or different weight (or metal). A fake is in fact the same, but to be passed as genuine. I know it's a thin line between replica's and fakes... Replica's can be found in the souvenir shop of a museum. Fakes will be sold to tourists as real coins...
Agree. But there are those who try to fool the public. There is one seller on Ebay who does not identify his products as replicas until near the bottom of his page. I wonder how many of his customers never see the disclaimer. As Thomas Tusser wrote: "A fool and his money are soon parted", but this doesn't mean we shouldn't police the crooks out there.
I agree. Nothing wrong with buying or selling, even collecting replica's (or fakes)... But selling selling them as genuine coins ??? Yuk. And still, lot of buyers think they struck gold, finding an exceptionnal rare (fake) coin at low price... Hang the B*** !
I have heard this argument made for more things than just coins--but it's no coincidence that forgeries and other knock-offs are produced cheaply with the expressed intent of selling at a higher profit margin than genuine goods--unless marked clearly. The motive is simply money.
... it's always about the money... i got no problems with museum shops selling replica's. i got big problems with those who sell fakes as genuine coins !
This reminds me of something that happened just the other day. There several SCA minting groups and these people mint nice coins in the style (and using the same or similar techniques) used to make coinage of old. Some of these guys are very talented and put a lot of time, money and effort making these. Now most of them would never fool a collector with any experience and most are minted for fantasy kingdowms and countries. Well, a guy came to the list as he bought a lot of coins and he could not place one of the coins in the lot. When he bought the lot he thought it might be a hard to ID seige coin. In fact it was an SCA coin. One of the members commented something like-- thats the best thing that could happen is for someone to mistake their coins as the real deal. I thought they should catalog the coins they make so they are easier to find so people can research because some of these gentlemen make outstanding coins that look very much like real coinage of the middle ages and other eras (like Byzantine). I even offered them a place to catalog them but the post was censored. They probably thought I was selling webspace maybe? I was offering free space... Besides helping people not get fooled by their replicas, reproductions, or authentic looking fantasy coins, it would also be a place they could take credit for their work...Since then I have seen coins for sale as 'unknown type' and recognized them as SCA coins.
