Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;guanelid, post: 515312, member: 16988&quot;]The thread I started on Super Bowl Sunday about a counterfeit 1796 dollar on eBay (<a href="http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t47224/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t47224/">http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t47224/</a>) generated tons of response and outrage, and Handsome Toad followed that up with another thread on the same topic.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t47252/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t47252/">http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t47252/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>But the more I look, the more problems I find with eBay auctions.&nbsp; Today&#039;s case in point involves a 1798 dollar up for auction at <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&amp;item=290293701837" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&amp;item=290293701837" rel="nofollow">http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&amp;item=290293701837</a></p><p>This one is guaranteed in the auction to be authentic.</p><p><br /></p><p>It looked a little odd to me, and the text of the auction described it as a 1805 dollar, so I sent the seller an email to clarify the date, and to ask if the coin had been cleaned or doctored.&nbsp; The seller quickly responded, telling me that at at some point in its long life, the coin had probably been cleaned.&nbsp; OK, that&#039;s an decent answer.&nbsp; As to whether it had been doctored, however, she said &quot;It does not appear to me to have ever been doctored; however, what you see and what I am describing is what I am selling. It is a nice coin and would already have been sold if my friends had the money.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Red flag, warning bells.&nbsp; When a seller says &quot;what you see is what you get,&quot; all I get is nervous.&nbsp; And then the story about her friends would have bought it if they had the money, and that does it for me.</p><p><br /></p><p>But wait, there&#039;s more.&nbsp; A quick Google of &quot;1798 dollar counterfeit&quot; and I hit on a great site that shows good photos of several of the more common early dollar fakes sold on eBay.&nbsp; Take a look at <a href="http://home.comcast.net/~reidgold/draped_busts/page_7.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://home.comcast.net/~reidgold/draped_busts/page_7.html" rel="nofollow">http://home.comcast.net/~reidgold/draped_busts/page_7.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>If you&#039;re like me, you&#039;ll be depressed at the extent of the fraud.&nbsp; As for this particular 1798 dollar, on the websie I just mentioned scroll down to the photos labelled &quot;Toolie 1&quot; and &quot;Toolie 2&quot;.&nbsp; These are indeed authentic 1798 dollars, just like this auction says, but they have been tooled to hide the wear.&nbsp; Then take a look at the racoon-like eyes on Toolie 1 and 2, and compare them with the eyes on the 1798 being auctioned on eBay.&nbsp; Looks to me like the same family of racoons.</p><p><br /></p><p>OK, I give up.&nbsp; eBay seems too dangerous when it comes to buying moderately expensive coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dean Guaneli</p><p>(guanelid)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in