LOL! I got ripped off! (FAKE ANACS SLAB!)

Even with this YouTube connection, I got a message saying that The Orchard Music, WMG, and/or INgrooves are blocking my access to this video because I live in the wrong area. How thoughtful of them

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

That is DISTRUBING! He is openly showing off his work:

http://s758.photobucket.com/albums/xx230/rarecoin/?start=all

 

Does the slab fit with other ANACS slabs ?

 

Yes sir it is. As long as the Chinese have no respect or consideration of US laws, or at least no repurcusisons for violating it, it will continue. Not mean to be bashing, but our companies lose tens of billions a year to Chinese counterfeiting, with music and movies pirated every day, patented medicines copied, almost every form of intellectual property simply stolen. Now it is happening to coins, but it has been happening to other industries for decades. Since nothing has happened with all of the other industries that piracy is rampant in, I very much doubt US politicians will have the nerve to stop this either.

Its enough to make you stop in your tracks, no? What happens when the general public is too afraid of counterfeits to buy coins? What happens when even collectors are too gun shy of even slabs to risk spending $200 on a slabbed coin they are not positive of? I think the improving quality of this flood of fakes could very well destroy this hobby.

Chris

 

I looked at all of those coins and you are right-- it is disturbing.

 

On the topic of returning coins won on eBay:

As I documented in earlier threads here and here, I bought a counterfeit coin from eBay, and got a full refund via Buyer Protection. Both eBay and PayPal confirmed that I did not need to return the counterfeit. This makes sense; if I returned it, there would be nothing to prevent the seller from attempting to pass it again elsewhere.

More recently, I bought a "$20 gold double eagle" that turned out to be a cheap oversized novelty item. I've won my Buyer Protection claim there, too, but I described it in my report as a "novelty item" rather than a "counterfeit". In this case, eBay is requiring me to return it (at their expense) in order to claim my refund. I'm happy to do so, because no reasonable person could mistake this for an authentic coin.

So, based on two data points, I can guess that eBay generally requires you to return Not As Described items as part of the Buyer Protection process, but that they make an exception for counterfeits. I'd need more data points to be confident, though -- and while Buyer Protection has come through for me consistently so far, it's enough of a hassle that I'm becoming a little less aggressive on what I'm willing to bid on.

 

Some of those examples are frighteningly good (if you're not paying attention or buying online). I will say, most of the copper examples are quite bad fakes though. There is no "RD, RB, BN" designation given on the slabs, and the coins look really un-natural. They are definitely spending some serious dough to get these as close to real as possible though.

 

But this would be a little different since in this case the coin isn't counterfeit, the holder is. For that reason they may require it to be returned.

 

I agree that the coins look unnatural, even the silver ones. A couple of things that struck me about them were their uniformity, regardless of the date or type, and grades that were randomly assigned.

 

Ah. I had the impression that the coin itself was questionable. All the same, the item as a whole is counterfeit, and so I'd expect it to be treated the same way as (say) a counterfeit handbag...?

 

wow look at that 1807 half cent. A bit red for xf45, you think? Same with the three legged buffalo. Too funny.

 

I strongly believe this coin is not genuine (almost guarantee it isn't). Even if genuine though it still falls into the not as described category. Any product altered in such a way to give something value, where none exists should easily be justifiable as a not as described item. Paypal/Ebay will not even take a chance there. 99% of the time they would force the seller to return the item and let them sort it out. Then 1% chance paypal will make you prove it not to be genuine. I think that would be pretty easy to get something from anacs stating that fact. It will never come to that though.

The coins pictured in the slabs I posted there are horrible fakes. I think each of them could be spotted in a second. The thing that scares me though is the VERY genuine looking slabs. If they used genuine coins then you would get into the SCARY zone. If there is any doubt about the authenticity of the slab it is usually solved by looking at the coin to see if it meets the grade. If an MS64 RED indian were put into a fake PCGS MS66RD holder it would probably fool 90% of the world.

I will note too that at the time I received that email I forwarded it to PCGS. They clearly took no action, and sent me no reply. The fact that they clearly know this is going on, but do not want to put any effort into anti counterfeiting measures is the most disturbing thing of all!

Ya you got it right This coin appears fake. I just can't be 100% sure without opening the slab. If this coin is genuine it would have a ton of errors in it. Unlikely!

 

That's an Icelandic cell phone number LOL

http://ja.is/hradleit/?q=8675309

 

Poor guy! I feel bad for anyone who has that as a phone number! LOL. I bet even in Iceland he has people calling him up singing the song to him HA!

 

Quite a bit red.
I missed the 3-legged Buffalo. I'll go back and take another look.

Is this guy actually trying to sell these coins?

 

I took a look at that "3-legged" Buffalo, then compared it with the examples shown on the PCGS site.
http://www.pcgs.com/Articles/Detail/5428
The one in rarecoins' collection matches the picture for an Altered 3-legged Buffalo!

 

You sent them an email from someone in China, what kind of action do you expect them to take? I do have to admit though that after I talked to them about the fake PCGS slabs back in 2008 their position was that if they took steps to change their slabs, the Chinese counterfeiters would do the same and they would be right back were they started after going to great expense. So they did not plan on making any changes to their slabs at that time. (It has been almost six years since PCGS did a change in their slabs and that is about how long they average between changes so they are about due for some changes soon.)

On the other hand it would have been nice if they had just sent you a thank you email.

 

There's a collector in my area who is building a 'library' of fakes in real looking slabs. He has many other high end coins in slabs, and it was recently suggested that he mark the fake slabs in some way to keep them straight.

If you do get to keep this coin (due to eBay Buyer's Protection and no return-shipment option), please etch the slab or write "FAKE" in sharpie to show that the coin contained within is fake.

If eBay required that I return a coin that I knew was a fake in order to get a refund, I think I would ship it in a certified mailer with a large hole in one side. Returning it to a scammer will just give them ammo to try again.

 

Faking slabs makes me paranoid : )