Ancients: Scary eBay listing

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ancient-rom...741?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f36e2f355



In the description the lister states they are Not Genuine.
Honestly, I would pass a lot of these off as genuine; they
make me nervous.

 

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Man, I always hate seeing that kinda post => although I admit that I run the majority of my purchases past a few "coin-friends", I am always amazed how authentic some of the fakes look!! (yah, it really is a bit of a sucker's market) ... I'm sure that even the big-dawgs get fooled from time-to-time, right?

anyway ... I certainly "hope" that all, or most of my coins are authentic ... ummm but luckily, once again that'll be somebody else's problem for I intend on keeping these babies, not selling 'em!!

 

Seller from Greece who can not legally export coins to the US specifies ships to US and sells fakes for $25 each? There is nothing to see here. Buy them and see if they arrive.

 

I know he is a dishonest seller, but what's the point of posting pictures of real looking forgeries and starting w/ a fairly high reserve, then referring to them as forgeries? No one would bid on coins described as forgeries regardless of their ignorance of Greece's local antiquity laws. Unless the reason is that he can somehow bipass their export laws by describing the coins as forgeries in the declaration. (I really don't know how it works in Greece; all I know is that US Customs seems to like my coins every once in a while and keeps them "safe" for me for 45 days) The reason for the post is to give an example of a very good looking lot of forgeries that would pass for authentic, if indeed they are forgeries. Knowledge is power.

 

I just clicked on the link and it said it was sold for 300 dollars!!!

 

At a glance-- without looking through forgery archives-- they look legitimate. Might they be authentic? If it is illegal for a resident of Greece to export coins, perhaps the seller labeled them as "fake" in an attempt to avoid export trouble?

 

I agree, they look genuine to me and I think the forgery title is a loophole for the seller

 

It doesn't make sense to me. If I'm looking to buy "real" coins, and the word "forgery", "fake" or "not genuine" are used as a descriptor, I'm not touching them. It seems counter-intuitive to me.

 

I agree that they look genuine and the seller is just looking for a loophole. I wonder if it will work, but we'll probably never know.

 

someone bid $ 300

 

In a way I hope it's a loophole and they are authentic. If the coins were offered as authentic from an experienced seller, with good feedback, I would bid on them.

 

unless you are in a country where they are of no value to you because you cannot sell them......clearly his ploy has worked, the price seems fair for the pieces.

 

Its odd isnt it......
we use our judgement and experience to pick out fakes on listings where the coins are said to be genuine, why can we not do the same on listings where the seller believes them to be fakes? I have shown my LRB's to family and friends, most of whom have commented that they must be fakes due to their almost mint state. In fact on another forum I used to be a member of, a person who trades on ebay and classes themselves as a trader, refused to accept some of my LRB's were genuine, even though I had dug them from the ground myself!! If they were to own them and have to post them for sale, with no experience they would probably sell them as 'believed to be fake', and indeed we see many listings where sellers have found themselves unwittingly in possession of ancients which they know nothing about and so they list them as 'unsure of authenticity'.......I have picked up some very nice coins from such listings.

 

I must be dense. This ploy, if it is a ploy, would chase me away.

 

I am sure it would, but it didnt scare everyone Bing......

 

Since the identification of the For Sale items as "not genuine" was buried in the listing, I wonder how many of the bidders saw it before they bid. Why not put it in the title?

 

perhaps for the very reasons we have already mentioned......and to avoid having to list the coins in the 'other' section which I think is required under ebay rules when a fake or replica is listed. Tbh Bing, I am not entirely sure why the coins were listed as fakes and it will remain a mystery, but I do not think they are fakes.....just my gut instinct.

 

I tried to go to it, but the link did not work any longer.