I sold a coin on ebay, described it as a Hadrian sestertius. It looks to be Oricalchum, not bronze..22.3g 33mm. whilst it was entitled Hadrian sestertius in the title of the listing, the weight and diameter were given and the photos showed the coin accurately. the buyer has now sad this...... I am confused? Hello Pete, well, the coin arrived finally! But now I have another problem: The coin is not an Sestertius actually. Having it in hands, it is clearly a (unidentifiable?) local issue. I thought it could be a rarer Sestertius, but as a provincial coin it is of course way too expensive in this condition. Can we solve that problem somehow? Best, Philipp Please help??
If the legends are Greek, it is not a sestertius. If you sold it as such, it might be nice to accept the return.
maybe I shouldnt have entitled it sestertius, but ...... the pictures/weight and diameter were clear enough.
I would just take the return. However, many sellers on eBay refer to larger provincial issues as sestertii, even though we don't know what the Romans called them. The buyer is being overly fussy about that. And he suggests that because it's a provincial issue that it's too expensive at what he bought it for. How would he know what it's worth if hasn't identified it?? Many rare provincials are abundantly expensive. Still, from personal experience, you could go back and forth about it and frustrate each other, or you could just take the return.
I agree with JA. Just take it back and chalk it up as a learning experience. You'll probably save yourself a future buyer by accommodating him now.
I would agree to take the return. As imperial coins, I agree that on average sestertii will usually have a higher value than an unremarkable provincial issue. In the future, if its unknown I would simply list the coin as Hadrian AE33 22.3grams. You can say it appears to be orichalcum if you wish. Sizes and weight is what should be listed unless the denomination for sure is known IMHO.
I would take the return as well or offer a partial return. For those who sell on ebay is this becoming more common now? I have seen it mentioned a couple times recently where people believe they might be getting a 'deal' on something rare and then when they do the research after receiving the item they find out it isn't what they expected and they realize they over spent and want a refund. If I had made a similar mistake I would probably just eat the cost and chalk it up to my own fault and lesson learned...do better research before I click bid. Having done this to myself before I am a lot slower on the bid finger because of it. Edit: I should add sometimes it is just easier to offer the refund and save the back and forth headache.
I agree with all the comments.....this buyer 'seems' to be experienced, so should know better...and I have learned a lesson. I think Doug said in another thread that he would rather people just listed coins without ID. Its only the experts who benefit by that though.....eh Doug?
Yes, I would buy more coins but many beginners would be confused what to buy. The thing here is that when a seller represents himself as a coin expert (having a business name is enough), there is an expectation of professionalism to include correct use of terms (like sestertius) and standing behind errors made (we all make errors). In some cases there are gray areas like the use of 'dupondius' for those Augustus/Agrippa/crocodile provincials but here we at least needed a talk-around like 'sestertius sized bronze'. I have no idea what the coin is and wonder why anyone would buy it with no ID and no legend. I'd offer full refund including postage and sell it again with a better description. You might get more next time.
Yes, I have offered a refund, but havent heard anything yet. I feel he wants the coin, but thinks he paid too much at the time and in the heat of the moment.....we all have havent we? I would happily sell without ID, but as you say beginners would be confused...having said that, I am clearly confused too!! I sell quite alot, but sell under a non descript ID.....so do not purport to be an expert. As I said, with weight and diameter, surely the buyer 'an expert' could make his own mind up? An English saying is ' I dont know my arse from my elbow', for me maybe it should be 'my As from my sestertius'. Its a steep learning curve , but as long as I am learning and take something from each experience, good or bad then I'll continue.
That stinks, but I guess you should give him his refund anyway. Personally in the future I would list such things as "sestertius sized" and then nobody would even have a shade of a claim.
