Man charged with coin fraud A Canadian man allegedly bought several Chinese counterfeit coins from a Hong Kong seller on eBay and sold some to a "collector store". (The coins are thought to be from Hong Kong so technically they would not be Chinese.) This genius returned a couple of months later to sell another fake coin but by then the storeowner had identified the earlier coins as fakes and confronted the seller who fled. Cops arrested the mastermind at his home a few days later. A search of the home yielded 42 counterfeit coins. I know what you are thinking - This could have been the perfect crime. How could such a well-thought-out plan fail?
The man is facing charges of uttering counterfeit money and possession of counterfeit money This could lead to problems for people who collect counterfeit coins
I'm actually more puzzled over how the store owner didn't manage to identify fakes in the first place unless they are really high quality fakes. I'm sure he should have been well aware of such fakes unless the coin shop is quite remote and information about such fakes never got to him... I mean, would you be willing to shell out a couple hundreds of dollars without doing any research???
This happened in Canada. Their laws are slightly different from the US. The general consensus here is that mere possession of a counterfeit coin is not illegal but possession with intent to defraud is illegal. The coins were not sold to a coin shop. The article called the store a "collector store". It sounds like it is a curio shop or an antique store. I doubt the store owner knows very much at all about coins as coins are not his primary business.
Sorry, Hobo - I can't resist. What I'm thinking is the amusing use of "uttering". Uttering in terms of speaking? Must have meant "issuing". On the other hand, if the man was really a cow (udder-ing?), he could have issued money instead of milk. :mouth: See, you probably don't know how weird I think sometimes!
We deal with pawn and jewelry shops at the store and they do get burned on occasion because it is NOT their primary function as a business. At the shop we will often weigh coins. Especially trade dollars. If it's suspect, such as a 16-D Mercury that recently walked in we'll offer to slab it. THEN we will pay what we have offered BEFORE slabbing. Although I hope the seller goes down the buyer is to blame as well. I don't run out and buy $300 antique lamps because I have no knowledge of them. A good store owner should take that principle as buying 101.
