Hey cointalk, I found this website that sells many, many fake coins without the "COPY" mark which makes them illegal. Including this FEC that I saw that does not carry a "COPY" mark. Should anyone take action? Website: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/FREE...7-COPY-100-coper-manufacturing/463692889.html
It is actually not illegal. China has no laws on counterfeiting US Coins and Currency. Heck, you see fake Rolex, Gucci and all sorts of other fake junk that is expensive. Why does this come as a surprise?
Unfortunately, they have been in business for quite a while and have franchised out their efforts to flood the international market with poorly made (or sometimes well made) counterfeits.
I bought one of these exact coins on eBay about a year ago (sold as a real one) for about $150. The key is the broken wheat ear on the lower reverse. See it at about 5 o'clock on the bottom? They're the thickness of a lincoln cent, not like a true, fat flying eagle cent. I bought it from a legitimate eBay seller and he refunded my money when I returned it. I watched him for months after that and never saw him list it (or another one). It had that same deep blackish tone. And I learned my lesson.
But my point is that Rolex and Gucci and all of those things are just watches and bags, however a fake COIN, seen from a non-numismatist's view, is really just fake MONEY to them. They think of its actual monetary value in the open market, not its collector's value. Let's say that some counterfeiter in China faked a series 1950 100 dollar bill, took it to the bank, and exchanged it for some Chinese Yuans. Then isn't it considered illegal because he used the phoney bill to get some yuans for himself, essentially using the fake bill? So is it legal to make fake money, but illegal to spend them?
Some people buy nice replicas as placeholders in their collection before they purchase the coin, as it may be an expensive piece or a key date. I'm not saying I do, nor am I condoning the production of replicas that are not marked as such. But some people do purchase counterfeits to display in their collection if they are missing certain mints or dates. Similar to replicas of expensive watches/purses, they are a cheap alternative to the real thing that people can show off.
I think Rickipedia may have a point, Just cos it was minted in 100 years back doesn't make it a legal tender. As long as the same authority who minted the coin and Constitutional rules apply I think a One cent made a hundred years ago is still a legal tender on par with the common ones in circulation- Unless until That denomination has been phased out. In my Opinion, I think it is a serious offense. I base my argument on this below case : The Swiss francs and rappens http://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces173.html I read somewhere that a rappen coin that was struck in the 19th century was as good as the one minted today. ( The intrinsic values will be different considering that the metals in older coins had silver and the Value of the raw material itself greater than the denomination, The Federal Authorities of Swiss had to then pull out the coins , To avoid ppl extracting and selling the metal itself through Arbitrage, The other reason being the older coins would not fit into the Telephone booth orifice ) But All said, This is just my opinion and My logic may be completely wrong
You may find that it may be illegal for Chinese citizens to possess US paper money. It usually was in most Communist countries. So no exchanging that fake $100 for yuan. OK what about exchanging fake US coins for Yuan? Foreign exchange offices and banks don't exchange coin. Besides those kinds of exchanges would be ripping off the Chinese government and believe me they would care. Now if you want to ship them out of the country and sell them to foreigners, that's perfectly fine with the Chinese government. They don't even care if you fake Chinese coins and currency, as long as it is from before 1949 when the Communists came to power, Oh and if you bring that fake 1950 $100 bill over here and exchange it at the bank, then you have violated US law, not Chinese.
