Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gxseries, post: 2141810, member: 4373&quot;]I can somewhat agree to what you are saying John. However when you have buyers that throw their life savings on &quot;investments&quot;, I really have to question their mentality. There was a seller that I remember, who bought literally more than 10,000 dollars in Chinese coins. Yes, I know, you would say it&#039;s the darn Chinese coins one is dealing with. His feedback checked out to be ok - dealt with some US coins that were sold for more than a few hundred dollars, if not up to four figures. </p><p><br /></p><p>When i received it, this one was quite deceiving but it is a counterfeit. What gave it away was the weight and some minor details. I had to write a lengthy message to explain why it was a counterfeit. Obviously he thought I was trying to rip him off until I gave him a blunt explanation that a tael cannot be 27 grams. A standard Chinese silver coin struck in that era is around 27 grams and a tael is about 35 grams. This counterfeit is a tael however was struck on a wrong planchet which was on a standard planchet. In my opinion, this could have been avoided if the seller did a bit of research. Needless to say, I explained in details of why the rest of his collection were counterfeits which was not a pleasant thing to do. </p><p><br /></p><p>As of the idea of getting the government to ban imports of coins - I don&#039;t think it&#039;s a feasible idea. At the same time, there&#039;s just way too much counterfeits out there - from T-shirts to handbags etc. How exactly can you propose getting custom officers to identify what is counterfeit through the mail? I will be honest and say that I am not an expert in identifying all kinds of goods. The most ideal solution is to shut down the counterfeit production chain, but obviously this is just too difficult with international laws. </p><p><br /></p><p>If I recall correctly, I believe Minnesota started to regulate bullion sales due to frauds. Can anyone that is living in Minnesota say that this action is effective or it has caused more trouble than it is worth?&nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I agree that there&#039;s no one size solution to this. As much as I hate to admit, this is a losing battle. For now though, I believe we must continue to persevere and continue to reject the sales of counterfeits. If you get one, document it, share the experience and return it to the seller. If in doubt, ASK! Least I know numismat wouldn&#039;t bite <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/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