Hi! New forum member...bought a coin from eBay, and (which sometimes happens) didn't receive the coin pictured...and just got one, not a "collection" (that's not what my post is about however . But what is quite unusual is that the coin I did receive has the same head on both sides. (This coin is not magnetic either, which I understand still does not preclude it from being fake, but I just thought I'd mention that...) One other comment: I did NOT take any of these pictures, so I didn't take a picture of my actual coin, but duplicated theirs to illustrate my dilemma. Thoughts? Magician or trickster coin? Very odd, at any rate.
Sorry, but that's what you get when you buy coins from China. Especially if you buy them for $5.99. Junk junk and more junk. Nine times out of ten these people don't care if what they are selling is close to authentic or not. If you are looking to buy a real "Fat Man" you should spend some time doing the research before you smash that "buy it now" button
Yeah, I figured it wasn't real. Just trying to figure out how selling a fake for $5.99 would be profitable. But maybe they got it for free with a bunch of other junk and threw it on eBay for kicks. Guess I'll go back to waiting to buy foreign coins from the coin shows and give eBay a wide berth!
You don't seem to realize how cheap these are to produce in China. Because you bought one, and the seller realized a significant profit, perhaps as much as 100%, they will continue to be produced and sold. Only when we stop buying them will they stop making them. So please stop buying them!
Chinese coins in particular require a lot of knowledge before you buy them. I've been doing this for years and I still stay away from them. The type of coin you bought is one of the most common fakes you'll see.
jgenn Of course I didn't know what you all are telling me. That's why I joined your forum today. I won't be buying any more from them going forward. ....and I just saw this thread ( https://www.cointalk.com/threads/great-rarities-2-heads-or-tails.14339/ ), so apologies for starting this thread. Hiddendragon Can you point me to a particular thread that tells where / how I should purchase coins? I do have a dealer I trust...am I getting from this that he's the only one I should ever buy anything from? I hope that is not the case, as he won't be around forever, and then I would be too paranoid to buy any more coins! Seems like there are so many fakes out there! Sorry for the newbie question/comments!
Wow...just looked up currency conversion, and $5.99 US Dollars is 41.20 Chinese Yuan. Makes more sense now that my paltry $5.99 would be a lot to them....
Current circulating chinese 1 yuan coin has been counterfeited which is worth a face value of 12 US cents. I reckon the cost of production of such junk is less than 50 cents. Therefore 5 dollars is actually a decent profit even after factoring in ebay and paypal fees. File a report and get your money back. They do not deserve a single cent of your money.
@Michelle_7728 For future buying, a few thoughts: Don't entirely exclude Ebay, but do your research before hitting the buy button. Most collectors on here will not touch anything selling from China, but fakes may turn up anywhere. You can always post pictures on here and ask questions before buying. Hunt down other dealers and outlets in you area. Many sell on the net through websites and Facebook, so you should be able to track them down. When deciding whether they are selling genuine stuff, do your research again - their past sales will often give you a clue. Chatting on coin forums like this may introduce you to other collectors and dealers who sell some coins. No guarantees they are genuine, but they have a reputation to lose if they sell fakes. Look into non-Ebay coin auctions. These can be anywhere in the world with bidding online. The top auctions will be expensive, but part of what you are paying for is the guarantee of authenticity. Local auctions are cheaper and great fun, but you do need to know a bit about what you are looking at. If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.
Thanks for taking the time to provide the tips everyone! I will do that: file a report to get my money back, and do research ahead of time, including the forum as a sounding board.
Everyone on here has different opinions on what is safe and not safe. Even a dealer isn't necessarily safe if they don't specialize in world coins, because they might not know enough to recognize a fake. Some people will disagree with this, but in my opinion you can buy most lower value coins safely on eBay. Just look out for people selling from China, Vietnam, places like that, and look at their other items for sale if you are suspicious. If they are selling a lot of coins that look questionable, I'd avoid them. Also if they have buy it nows for far less than the coins should be worth or if you see that their auctions are selling for really low amounts, it probably means knowledgeable buyers are avoiding them. So check the price guides and get an idea of what the coin should be worth, and be wary of anything that deviates too far from that. Avoid Chinese coins unless you have really studied them first or buy a graded example. Avoid buying U.S. coins from overseas. I've bought thousands of coins on eBay and sold thousands more, so you certainly don't need to avoid it. Just avoid too good to be true deals and stick to things less likely to be faked until you know more.
Thanks for the info. Makes me feel a lot better about not excluding eBay. Also, I did call eBay today and sent them the picture I posted here (but without the seller's name commented out). They are starting an investigation on them...of course I was told they can't tell me the progress of the investigation, but I feel good that the incident was treated in the proper manner when I called them.
