Is there anything we can do?

Well it is plainly evident after searching on a Chinese website that the American Gold Eagle, American Silver Eagle, is being faked, along with Morgan Dollars, Error coins, and a host of other coins including coins from other countries.

I thought at 1st China got away with it because they were called "Antique Imitations". They did not bear the COPY stamp because that's a US law, not a Chinese one.

Well since the ASE and AGE are Modern coins...and I saw the 1972 DDO for sale on there as well, what's next?

Well NOW they are faking the dollar coin.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/634076050/Presidential_Dollar_Coin.html

A LEGAL TENDER MODERN COIN.

So what's next? What's stopping them from printing $100 dollar bills and selling them to people for 25c a pop?

You all laughed, and acted like this was no big deal, but it's exploding. Half of this crap was not even on here 3 months ago.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

We allowed ourselves to become dependent on
TPG's. Now we get to do the lemming dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A24Q0IXy5zw

 

No we cannot stop what is going on there, but we are not stopping what is happening - the daily imports of this garbage that slips by customs. How many of the parcels containing forged coins are actually inspected? As GD points out, this stuff is not new in China - intellectual property and proprietary rights are not as recognized in their society as they are in the West. The one area that the Chinese government has indeed cracked down on is the counterfeiting of contemporary coinage - even small change is being forged there. The real test would be to see what the Chinese would think of the BEP printing up a bunch of red Chairman Mao 100 Yuan notes and circulating them - like their N. Korean stooges do with Ben Franklins.

 

I would reiterate this is a very old Chinese tradition. This is not a slam on the Chinese at all, just an observation from someone who collects and reads about Chinese numismatic history. Kahn covered the exact same thing happening in the 1880's in China. First foreign coins were faked, then larger silver Chinese coins, then even small silver and bronze coins. Its not something new being perpetuated against America, its simply a longstanding tradition in China.

I do think, however, that a firm advertising to fake modern circulating US coins will get more attention than what was previously given to them. The secret service does not take lightly forging of circulating US money. They might be willing to throw collectors under the bus, but they are charged with ensuring the US is not flooded with fake circulating coinage.

 

It's still fair trade. China sends us dung
and we pay for it with crap-"value" for
"value."

 

Somebody posted a thread earlier, but I think this sort of thing is what's killing the hobby. You can't buy anything, from anywhere. I'm a prime example of what I mean. I'm a new collector. I have some money (not rich by any means, but I'm not hurting either), and I'm wanting to spend some money on this hobby. It's hard enough to get yourself educated when you're new like I am. Then you read all about this stuff. Fortunately, all I'm really buying right now are ASE's, and fortunately (for me) I have a coin dealer right across the street from where I work. I can physically put my hands on the coin. If I like, I buy. If I don't like, I don't buy. Simple. But what about a potential new collector that doesn't have a dealer locally? They'll just start doing some research, read about all the fakes, etc. and move to a different hobby. I wouldn't buy from EBay or anyplace else that I can't put my hands on it. It's too much hassle. It also makes it harder for new people like me to expand on what I'm collecting. My local guy might not have what I'm looking for. Where else can I get it with all of this going on? Nowhere, that's where.

 

I don't know what can be done. You should get right on it.

 

You cannot stop it, but you can do your part to avoid it. Buy only from reputable dealers and directly from the mints. TC

 

It's not going to stop or even slow down. China
has over capacity factories and over built cities.
They need 9% a year GDP just to put new adults
to work. Whatever part of their economy is not
yet tanking is in a bubble. If that's enough they
have a shortage of farmland and water and an
abundance of ****ed off Budda dudes in Tibet.
They are not going to make their situation worse
by clamping down on counterfeit rings and putting
more people out of work. If they do anything at all
it will just be special effects for our enfeebled
politicians and yellow dog journalists.

 

When you're new, and you keep reading about this company and that company, it's kind of hard to really determine who is reputable or not - it takes time and "faith" to find those dealers. And, what if you don't like the coin for whatever reason? Now you have to ship it back (time and aggravation) and play the game of he said/she said. Buying from the mint is great if they offer what you're looking for. I wish I could've bought the 2011 set directly from the mint!

[edit] Sorry, didn't mean to derail the thread. Apologies. [/edit]

 

Tim, when you are not working at that mega-lo-mart, do you wear a cape and mask?

 

I called the Secret Service today to report the website. Will it do any good? I doubt it, but it's worth a try.

This whole thing is starting to scare me. We all know China has a population issue. I've been reading on the news about China buying land from us, factories, and other assets.

They already own 1.16 trillion of our debt. They lend us money, and surely an "IOU" isn't going to cut it when it comes time to pay.

It almost seems as if they are slowly trying to buy us out. Once they own us, they could tell us all to leave.

If they can devalue the collector coin market by producing fakes, they can devalue our economy by printing fake money.

That seems to be like "War 3.0". Instead of fighting the country, just make them poor, buy all their assets, and either make them leave, or kill them.

 

China just bought the biggest pork producer in the US. From now on, unless it's mu-shu, no more pork!

 

The problem is "being able to easily identify fakes".

The fakes keep getting better. The fakes they made this year look better than last. Also...with 3d metal printing on the rise, they can make them even better.

 

Then what? One of the main reasons people own precious metals is resale value. If you can't resell your precious metals because nobody can be sure they are real, then what? A tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist could argue that our government isn't doing anything about the Chinese fakes because they don't want people jumping ship on the Dollar.

 

"That seems like war 3.0"

Harvest the joggers. They have premium organs.
http://s1270.photobucket.com/user/hermit_the_surly/media/CAM00251.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

 

Mikev, in addition to what GDJMSP stated
you can stay pretty safe if you buy from
PNG dealers.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...c5qOZNqu3NTk6p7NQ&sig2=fjCm6AB_nrNhz-f0v2bGzw

 

Ask us to leave? Stop being paranoid. :rolling: Go out and get a beer with your friends, try to pick up some girls instead of calling the Secret Service in your spare time.