Amongst what look to be genuine low grade bronze are two silvers that are salted in there to draw people in. Well known fakes. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANCIENT-R...IUS-AUGUSTUS-50-53-AD-VERY-RARE-/262393038404 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANCIENT-R...PADOCIA-37-41-AD-EXTREMELY-RARE-/262395761988 Martin
I've never purchased from that seller before and now I never will in the future. Both coins 'look off' to me but unless they were listed in the 'Fake Directory' I couldn't be sure.....but that old 'if there's any doubt, there's no doubt' rule of thumb usually serves me well.
Except for a handful of professional dealers, most coins listed on eBay are either fake or junk. It would be good if: (1) we could filter out amateur dealers if we wanted to, and (2) if eBay employed an ancient coin expert to identify and remove the fakes - as they do quite vigorously with fake Gucci/Louis Vuitton fashion accessories.
Most coins anywhere are junk. There's just a lot more junk than gems in existence. Fakes and laughably overpriced or overhyped items get most of the attention here. If you believe that means that it's not worth the effort to look for hidden jewels on eBay -- well, please, by all means, go on thinking that. The less savvy competition we buyers have, the better.
Mind you, i do very occasionally trawl eBay (besides my "trusted" dealers) looking for bargains. Searching for "unknown" and "unidentified" in the "coins" category is sometimes useful. If the seller doesn't know what he's selling, you could buy a gem for a decent price. Sometimes I've taken a gamble on poorly photographed coins - with less bidding competition I've been able to win some good stuff, especially English hammered coins. But it sure takes perseverance to find this good stuff, and there seems to be less of it than there was five years ago.
