Hi, What do you think about this coin in ebay

I think my point was many of us do not know this era of coins fake or not. If someone with knowlege comes in and just says FAKE that does not really help as no one knows if that is fact or opinion.

 

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I have another observation. I have seen similar coins/tokens of Hindu Gods for 1616, 1717 and 1818. That makes me all the more suspicious about their authenticity.

 

I recently started collecting and researching coins of the East India Company. In neither of the 2 reference books that I have are any of these coins mentioned or pictured. Nor have I seen these coins anywhere else except being sold on eBay.

Here is a page from an Indian coin collector about these coins. Fake East India company coins. It's a little confusing at first. Because of the way he describes the coins you start to wonder if he means that these are real. But finally at the bottom he also says, "All these coins are 100% FAKE. anyone selling these is a cheat."


The ONLY people that seem to be promoting these coins as being of the East India Company are eBay sellers. Hmmm... makes you think.

 

Just to add, these eBay coins are also NOT East India Company coins:

1839 OM COPPER COIN

GARUDATHRI 1818 UKL ONE ANNA

I would be suspicious of any coins offered by these 2 sellers.

 

Had the shock of my life yesterday. The counterfeiters are well organized and networked internationally. I visited an ebay coin seller so I could buy coins in person and I saw a cupboard full of sacks of coins from Tibet, India etc. The British India George VI Quarter Anna pieces numbering hundreds in uncirculated condition, kutch 1 kori coins numbering thousands, Tibet 1 Tangka numbering a few hundred, Puddukottai Amman tiny coins and ancient Indo-greek coins. I was extremely concerned by the sheer volume but the strike was fantastic. What finally convinced me was the security edges on the 1/4 rupee 'silver' George VI pieces and the uneven thickness in this coin for the same year of issue. Some of the coins had security edges while others had a standard edge with vertical serrations. This was an eye opener and I rushed back home to have a closer look at all my coins. The dealer has little to no knowledge of the coins. He was convinced that everything he sells are 100% authentic. There are Thais, Chinese, Nepalis and Indians involved in this lucrative business. Coins are manufactured in the latter 3 regions and Thailand is the distribution center. I picked up 4 coins (1 kutch 'silver' kori, 2 pudukottai amman, 1 mysore lion coin) for $8 just so I could study them but the quality is extremely good. Very concerned about the future.

On the subject, here is another supposed 'antique' 'rare' 'scarce' coin. It has a date of 1717 but if they had googled a bit about the famous personality depicted on this coin, they would have moved the date forward by 2 centuries. I am catching up fast on finding the scams but very concerned about the millions being lost by gullible shoppers on these sites. Ebay is as guilty as the counterfeiters.

 

http://home.comcast.net/~reidgold/draped_busts/chinese.html

 

Without knowing specifics of a particular issue, a collector can go by a simple rule of thumb to spot more flagrant copies. Using the coin above as an example, take a close look at the legends, denomination and date. Notice the modern, sans-serif lettering style? This was absent on coins before the 20th century. Serifs were originally used to finish off chisel strokes on letters carved into stone by the ancient Greeks. This convention was picked up by the Romans, who adapted this style for their alphabet, also adapted for legends on coins. This convention lasted until the 20th C., when high-speed manufacturing methods called for cleaner designs. Just a bit of trivia to explain why this is definitely a modern piece.