I saw the following ad on eBay for 1916-D Mercury Dimes. https://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCURY-HE...h=item48c349fdc1:g:Wk8AAOSwO7NcfI4s:rk:1:pf:0 The coins are obviously copies @$4.89 each...and that info is included down in the description...and they come from Hong Kong. However, I thought the coin had to be stamped "COPY" or have some obvious feature to distinguish it from the real coin. 21 of these things POS coins have sold by this seller. I wonder if the buyers will be as forthcoming when it comes time for them to sell.
I wonder the same thing. I find questionable listings on eBay all the time. Like this one :233113117097 or this one 192845127453 This guy has sold several and has 5 more to sell.
Is it legal for him to sell them? Yes, it is. Selling copies of US coins in Hong Kong is legal. Is it legal for the buyer to import it into the US? No, that IS illegal. This is something that people who complain about selling copies on Ebay keep ignoring. The Chinese seller is doing nothing wrong as long as he discloses that it is a fake. It is the US BUYER who is committing a crime.
Yes, I fully understand that. It is the unscrupulous U.S. seller who seems to care more about making a buck than he does his own integrity, that is the real problem. Wait...so you're saying that it's illegal for an American to even buy a fake coin in the first place? I know it's illegal to sell fake U. S. coins, but you're saying it's even illegal to buy one?......that is then mailed to your U.S. address?
I clicked on your link and looked at it..... It does say in the description area that it is made of copper... Plated with zinc or ??? I don't know.... I do know of people buying copper rounds and HOBO coins made with copper and other metals.... I didn't see a size for the dime though.. It might be the size of a nickel or quarter ???
It's a stock photo.... Just like someone selling the 2018 and 19 pennies... Some are their pics and most are stock pics for the single penny sales.....
It is illegal to import unmarked copies into the US. You can buy all you want--you just can't bring them into the country.
Is it legal to produce the coin in Hong Kong? The 1916-D Mercury Dime is still legal US coinage. Would it be legal for someone in Hong Kong to setup shop and start churning out US Dollar Bills or Kennedy Half Dollars?
International trade regulations say no he can't. Chinese law says that yes he can recreate any copies dated before 1949--the birth year of the People's Republic of China...and it is the PRC which would be enforcing the law.
The Chinese seller is violating eBay policy, which currently says you can't sell copies, whether or not they're marked as copies. You can see how vigorously eBay enforces this policy.
I just clicked on the first link above and it seems that dime page is taken down. Both of the pages linked in my above post are still up and running.
The US laws are the Hobby Protection Act (HPA) and it's revision the Collectible Coin Protection Act. (CCPA) They can be seen here: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-i...rgn=div5&view=text&node=16:1.0.1.3.28&idno=16 This is the important part: "Any person engaged in the manufacturing, or importation into the United States for introduction into or distribution in commerce, of imitation political or imitation numismatic items shall be subject to the requirements of the Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder. Any person engaged in the sale in commerce of imitation numismatic items shall be subject to the requirements of the Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder. It shall be a violation of the Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder for a person to provide substantial assistance or support to any manufacturer, importer, or seller of imitation numismatic items, or to any manufacturer or importer of imitation political items, if that person knows or should have known that the manufacturer, importer, or seller is engaged in any practice that violates the Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder." This makes what Ebay is doing a CRIME: It shall be a violation of the Act for a person to provide substantial assistance or support to any seller of imitation numismatic items, Ebay knows certain sellers have been selling counterfeits for years, yet they do nothing to punish or stop these sellers. They do know the law. They do know about these sellers because they will remove listings when forced to by members of the coin community that do have more influence than normal Ebay users. I search for and click on enough counterfeits that their algorithms suggest them to me. If the algos can do that, they should also be able to flag them. Ebay does NOT CARE about coin collecting, you, or the law. If they did, they would ban sellers after the third time selling counterfeits.
eBay claims the same safe harbor all of the news sites claim... the DMCA limits the responsibility of a provider. They are safer NOT partly enforcing against counterfeits if they want to claim the safe harbor.
I do not believe this. First, counterfeiting US currency is vastly different from copyright infringement. Second.the DMCA requires the provider to block access or remove offending material. Third, Youtube has no problem keeping copyrighted material from their site and will ban users quickly for violations. Ebay should do the same with counterfeits. Fourth, You can't find bootleg movies on DVD on Ebay. Why are they found and removed so efficiently? Is it because the movie industry has lawyers? Fifth, Ebay does remove listings when reported by certain groups that have inside influence.
Honestly most of your assumptions here are incorrect. YouTube and sites like it struggle constantly with copyrighted material. Bootleg DVDs have a small market on eBay because there is no market for them. You can find real ones for a couple bucks with free shipping how much cheaper can you get than the 99 cents to 1.99 most real ones resell for? US law does not apply internationally, people constantly forget this.
Search Avengers: Infinity War on Ebay the lowest priced available is $9.95. There are no bootlegs. That leaves a lot of room for profit on copyrighted movies. I am sure I can find 100's of movies that have a similar demand and room for profit. The Chinese are making counterfeit 1956 Lincoln Cents. They include shipping for $1.35. So obviously it doesn't require much profit for them to counterfeit anything. https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...-Head-Cent-Copy-Coins/738170_32759515299.html Now search "copy coin" on ebay and you get things like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2019-Ameri...sh=item3fba3c89bd:g:vWEAAOSwIz5cadjs&LH_BIN=1 It even says "Copy" which is supposed to be against ebay policy. When you say "YouTube and sites like it struggle constantly with copyrighted material." that means that they work to keep it off of their site. Sure some go up for a short time, but they ban users after only a few violations. I know of Ebay users that have had Dozens of admitted counterfeits removed, and still list more. US law may not apply internationally, but importing them is within US jurisdiction. So is providing substantial assistance or support to any seller. Which is exactly what ebay is doing.
