I don't understand who would be in the market for replicas. Why would you want a "replica"? I don't get it.
It's a convenient way for the Chinese to get their counterfiet coins to dishonest dealers in the states. The pictures you see on ebay have the word "copy" or "replica" added 90% of the time.
Replicas are sold on Ebay because everything is sold on Ebay. I've purchased a couple of replicas of coins I know I'll never own. Sometimes replica coins are for sale as souvenirs, and are better than most of the alternatives. But, more recently I've taken to elongated coins as the souvenir of preference.
Replicas can indeed fill a hole that someone may never be able to afford. Unfortunately it is letting better and better counterfeits flow in as well. Want the real bottom line though? EBAY MAKES MORE MONEY!
Copy or replica- does its really matter if you want to stick one in your collection. I would think it looks better if something is in place instead of an empty hole. Say for example - you wanted to collect Mercury dimes and of course the most expensive is the 1916 D . Some might not want to spend that kind of money on 1 coin when the rest of the collection is not really worth that much compared to the one coin. But you want to show off your collection and hate that missing spot like in a Dansco album. So, you buy the cheap copy to fill in the blank. When i show some friends my collection - i always hate the missing hole because everyone seems to always look at the missing slots first. Like in my Dansco Eisenhower - i wish Dansco would not leave empty slots at the end of a series - from my point of view - i have to fill them up with something. just my thought. Snowman
"Why are "replicas" sold on Ebay? " Because people want to buy them. Same reason anything is sold anywhere. The Huzak Large Cent collection sold for over $10 million. Face value: $3.01 . Some people think coin collectors are crazy.
The problem with many of the sellers from China on ebay is the fact that most coins are counterfeit, not replicas. By law, a reproduction coin has to have something indicating it is a copy. The Chinese government claims they are trying to resolve this problem. It seems they are doing as good a job as ebay and the FBI on this matter. Ebay has proven once again they are all about money, no matter how dirty it is.
Apparently there is a huge market for forgeries (as these coins are... they are not "copies" or "replicas", the coins you buy will NOT be stamped as such; many are now produced using planchets that are the correct alloys and dies that are laser cut to exact specifications); the Chinese power sellers that were temporarily suspended from eBay are now up and running full speed ahead. Some of these sellers list thousands of coins every week, and most all of them sell. I believe for every genuine "key" coin in existence, there are just as many forgeries, if not more. It's sad really...
One man's junk is another man's treasure. Everything is collectible. Many people would prefer a rare beanie baby to most coins.
Many of these Chinese powersellers are using dozens of user names also. They would be harder to spot, but the product description pages are all the same with the same broken English. Ebay only suspends enough to make it look like they are trying to combat the problem. They are making way too much money off these guys to kick them all off!
