eBay counterfeit coins and lack of response to reports

That’s rich. I reported an 1840 CC Seated Dollar a while back that was not removed. Obviously you all know why. The area wasn’t even called Carson City until the 1850s.

It’s funny that eBay chose to draw this line in the sand. Sports cards $250 and up have to go through eBay’s third party authentication. I suspect it’s because they have a contract with sports cards TPGs. I doubt PCGS or NGC would want to get in the business of authenticating coins without slabbing them.

 

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There's somebody on eBay that's selling fakes of incredibly rare South Korean pattern coins and speciens:
Here
https://www.ebay.com/itm/365288584421

Past sales indicate a KILLING.
Mind you, these are ALL FAKE:

 

I was about to say that not only was there not a Carson City Mint yet in 1840, there wasn't even a Carson City in 1840. You'd think coins that self-evidently couldn't even actually exist would be the easiest to get taken down. I caught a few that just based on their dates and mint marks couldn't possibly be genuine and convinced the sellers to take them down; giving them the benefit of the doubt maybe they didn't know they weren't genuine (I remember when the presidential dollars came out there was tons of listings for "errors" where the edge lettering was upside-down, because people didn't know the orientation on non-proofs was entirely random and thus 50% of them would have supposedly upside-down edge lettering). At some point though you have to figure people don't legitimately acquire coins of a certain value without knowing what they are. I think the obvious solution would be that eBay should hire at least one person if not a few people who are actually knowledgeable enough about coins to spot obvious fakes and take them down.

 

I've bought two by mistake. In one case, I was able to get a refund. In the other, I got stuck with it.

Every December, my Facebook feed is clogged with ads for fake Silver Dollar Sets. Less than half the time I report them does Facebook take down the ad.

 

I have only ever bought one thankfully, strangely one that would only have been worth the $15 I paid for it, were it real (always wondered why someone would bother to fake it, unless it was practice before they moved on to fake more valuable coins). Coveat emptor and all that. I wish eBay would have better enforcement policies and procedures, but what are you going to do. I didn't even bother trying to get a refund (by the time I found out it was fake it was long past the point I could demand a refund, and refunds were a lot harder to get back then. It was actually ANACS that figured out it was fake, when I submitted it for grading.)

I wouldn't worry about the hobby dying though. It's been around almost as long as coins and it isn't going anywhere soon. As long as coins exist, someone will want to collect them. Besides if there's less people in the hobby, that just means demand for coins will go down, and they'll be cheaper to buy.

 

NGC did partner with ebay for their "expert review service" starting in 2019. https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/7524/ngc-expert-review-launched/
I think it's defunct now but I'm not sure when they stopped doing it. I imagine it was more trouble than it was worth. Likely Genuine, Likely Not Genuine or Inconclusive were their determinations.

 

Look at this lovely 1791-S Trade Dollar full of casting bubbles:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3758756952...XSxu6n3Rfq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

I’ve noticed an increase in counterfeit seated liberty half dollars on the Bay. The sellers are mostly from Southeast Asia and people are unbelievably biding on these coins. It used to be easy to report suspected items, but that option is difficult to find. (at least for me).

 

That one has been removed.

 

Aww man, now I can't even complete a year set of Trade Dollars, never mind a year-and-mint set. Where else am I going to find a 1791 specimen? And even if I could, how could I rest knowing that I missed out on this early SF-mint example?

 

Based on current eBay dealings/observations, where I purchase virtually every day (e.g. 3 NGC MS70 Gold Eagles today), they are virtually invincible!

Their current Credo appears as CAVEAT EMPTOR!!

 

I have been on a roll buying some of the misleading ones from CN, receiving them and getting my money back.

This is the latest; added the image of the stolen listing for reference.

eBay did remove the remaining left on the listing...

 

They used to have that, they got rid of them.

At one time they had a dedicated link that took reports of fake coins directly to the people mentioned above. You were allowed 10K characters in order to be able to give a detailed explanation of the problem and your evidence for why you believed it was a fake. That link and the group used to be very effective in getting counterfeits removed quickly. It was very useful. As mentioned they got rid of the group and the link.

Once the group was disbanded there was someone on one of the forums (here?) that had an "inside track" who could still get fakes removed. You spotted a fake and told him about it an "poof" it was gone. I'm not sure but I think there were some people on Jack Youngs Facebook Darkside group that had influence with ebay.

 

The forum dad on CCF gets them gone in the blink of an eye, or used to. Maybe that's who you're thinking of. It shouldn't be based on knowing someone inside, obviously.

 

I have direct reporting as well.

 

It isn't so much knowing someone on the inside, it's more someone on the inside knowing you. The people on the inside don't really know enough to know if the coins are bad or not. and they don't want to eliminate listing just on the say so of some Joe Shmo. But the people on the inside have learned that these certain peoples opinion can be trusted. So when they report Ebay listens.

 

New buyers at the Bay should head the adage, “if it looks too good to be true then it probably is.” Some listings have legitimate images of coins, and the price is way below market, but the coin received is bogus.