New Arrival: Vespasian Tetradrachm

The title fools you; and I didn't expect anything like that.

 

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Purchasing ancient coins on eBay is a daunting task if you're just starting out. Stick with reputable dealers and you will be fine.

 

My step aunt's daughter tried to give me hers this past 4th of july for free, year old. But it was in heat and such and I didn't have the $ to deal with all the shots and such.

As much as I miss my cats, I don't miss the litter everywhere or cat hair on some of the furniture.

 

Vespasian70 is dead-on. Steer to known, reputable eBay sellers, and you be fine. There are some great items there if you do your homework. Personally, I also peruse Vcoins, MA-Shops, Forum, and several others when looking for off-the-shelf inventories. Personally, when I started, I made a few mistakes, were able to rectify, then learned from the errors. I still make mistakes, but I work to minimize them by sticking to reputable sellers.

I learned a lot listening, learning, and capturing the links and tips from this Forum.

 

Yes you are right. There are plenty of good sellers and you have to be educated. I AM HOPING NOW THAT I NEVER RECIEVE THAT COIN. I WILL THEN GET A FULL REFUND THROUGH EBAY.

 

For $8.99 don't sweat it I have 5 Caesars I was collecting that went down in flames thanks to the trained eyes on Coin Talk.

 

The seller might not be inclined to issue a refund because all of his listings indicate that the coins are replicas.

 

This.

 

Here's my new kitty: an attractive billon tetradrachm of Otacilia Severa (22mm; 12.26g). Ex Dattari Collection, proved with Savio's book of Dattari's rubbings to which it is a precise match. Apologies for the poor cell phone pics.

 

Personally I think buying coins on eBay is ok, but you really have to be careful. Don't just look at the auction, look at the sellers feedback and other listings too. Sometimes there are telltale signs that something is wrong. @New Windsor Bill for 9 bucks or so, its not too bad even if its a replica, but be careful with more expensive purchases.

@vespasian70 maybe your cat is thinking this...


jk.

 

If you're not sure of what you're buying, do run it past us before you buy it. Nobody here is going to snipe a coin from under you if you're asking for advice on it before you buy it. I'm certainly not an expert on Vespasian coinage, and I only have one Denarius of his, but even I can tell that's an awfully bad fake. The portrait style is completely wrong, and the look of the coin screams modern forgery. Probably a modern cast intended as a jewelry piece, I don't think this coin was made with the intention of fooling anyone.

 

Thanks for the great advice. I usually do check out everything before I purchase but this time I didn't because of the low price. And on second thought HOW DOES THIS GUY MAKE MONEY; there is not much profit to be made by the selling and shipping this stuff out worldwide for such little money, especially with the ebay and paypals fees added on.

 

That's a pretty PUTTY CAT. Very nice.

 

I've often asked myself that question. Two months ago I bought a Batmobile keychain on Ebay for $3.99 including shipping all the way from China. I honestly didn't have high hopes that I would actually receive it, as the $3.99 sounded too good to be true (I asked myself how can this person make any money) but sure enough, a month later I received it in the mail. It is very well made too..so how they do it I have no idea. They must have some factory in the countryside cranking these things out with farmers working the assembly line and being paid 50 cents an hour.

 

Factor in the exchange rate, last time I checked one USD was about 6 yuan. Not sure how much now though.

 

Thats because they ship by the container.

 

I hate that a discussion of fakes has entered in this thread - this is not a dig at the topic coming up but rather a dig at the counterfeiters. Recently I purchased my first fake...and of all things a U.S. Air Force trade token used in Vietnam. I'm not sure if it was created there or created by the seller but the token is fake (I'm pretty knowledgeable in this area of numismatics or exonumismatics). Anyway, again, I would like to stress that if you're new to ancients buy from reputable dealers! Especially on eBay. How can you tell if a seller is a reputable dealer? Ask the board. Do they offer a lifetime return policy? I have never purchased an ancient off eBay. Maybe I'm selling myself short maybe not. I love my ancient coin collection.

 

This is what I did in my career...manufacture product worldwide. You would be amazed at the raw cost of making things. But factoring overheads, logistics, quality assurance, regulations, etc. etc...