Just saw this come up in BIN: Morgan Silver Dollars 1894s, 1893o & 1893o (Lot of 3) While I was dithering, someone else snatched it for $180. I was trying to decide whether they were likely to be fakes -- even if they were cleaned or otherwise damaged, and even though the photos are poor, legitimate coins would've made this a big win. A couple of years ago, I would've pounced immediately, counting on eBay Buyer Protection to have my back, even though I'm not a big Morgan collector. I've been out of the market for a while, though, and I think it'll take a while for me to get my nerve back.
I just looked at the sellers other items for sale, a bunch of older Chinese silver, a trade dollar, some older Mexican silver. It screams "chinese fakes" at me. They have a lot of feedback as a buyer from sellers based in China, too.
Look at the other items the seller is offering, you probably made a wise choice. I've also scaled back risk purchases actually many purchases because Ebay's return/protection process has gotten horrible imo. I recently bought an early 50's proof set, well that's what the pictures and description said and the seller sent me a 1989 mint set. I sent it back and it was delivered 8 days ago now and still no refund or reship with the supposed correct item the seller said they were going to send. I inquired with Ebay and they told me to wait another 3 business days for who knows what reason.
I don't know if I wouldn't consider myself lucky that someone else made the sacrifice. The date and denticles look kinda funky on all 3. EDIT: not kinda funky, for real funky.
Actually by really quickly looking at the sellers feedback (hasn't sold anything in a long time) but has been buying including many listings from http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=05-swuq9d&ftab=AllFeedback this seller based in China who was selling many different fakes. This seller is likely the buyer who has the identical feedback stars of 597, so not only are they perfectly aware they are selling fakes they're stupid enough to be easily exposed.
Okay, so maybe it was unconscious wisdom, not cowardice. I was a bit nervous about the seller's limited selling history; they've sold some coins in the past, but it was quite a while ago. I didn't drill in to see where their recent purchases were coming from. It seemed like the listing stuck around longer than I would've expected for actual underpriced Morgans -- those normally get snagged quickly. That implies that knowledgeable BIN-campers weren't biting. Unfortunately, "if somebody else snatches it up quickly, maybe you should buy it" isn't a useful purchase guideline.
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...=positive&interval=365&_trkparms=positive_365 http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...=negative&interval=365&_trkparms=negative_365 These too. They don't currently have any listings, but it's scary to see their positive feedback, how many fakes did they put into the market, i wonder?
Wow. I've just taken a tour through the selling histories of some of the folks this guy's been buying from. I knew that eBay had about given up on policing fake coins, but I didn't realize just how terrible it's gotten. There sure are a lot of "5oz silver coins" going for $4-5/oz. Wonder if I can make a case for some sort of disability compensation from SS? I mean, I could be generating a lot more income, cleaning up big-time on eBay, if only I weren't crippled by this darn conscience...
Congrats on the one time being a loser is OK! A local coin shop sniped a Panda away from me but it turned out to be a brass one he he he!
None of those coins look right to me. The photos are just small enough to make authentication difficult. I think you are smart to stay away!
