Now, you can get your very own PCGS 1909-S VDB cent for $102! Wow.

Here is someone selling them on eBay as real...and some comments from the guy who bought some.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/gxgr27fgvd_41/m.html?LH_Complete=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2046732.m1684

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Bidding-Buying/Beware-of-coins-in-FAKE-PCGS-Slabs/td-p/28518240

 

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@Numismat Totally agree with buying the coin and not the holder but the world is full of collectors that do not do that. Sure buyer be ware is the mantra but there are many different levels of collectors that might not be able to tell the difference especially someone just entering the hobby.

 

In re Post #21
No offense to this buyer, and he will get his refund as Ebay is supposed to protect buyers from this. But what kind of Ignatz Nimrod buys these kinds of coins from China at a huge discount, and expects them to be legitimate?
Wake up and smell the fraud. If something is too good to be true, it's fake. You're not getting a great deal because you're the smartest shopper on the planet.
I was going to mention before that I thought the "photos" of the coins in the slabs could be real, and then they ship you the facsimile counterfeits.

 

What is happening is that these fake coin producers are selling these to the ripoff artists that turn around and sell them to the public through auctions, eBay, and where ever they find a unwitting soul. These are made for the con artist simply put. How hard would it be to get one of the pennies , mark it up like it was in circulation and stick it in some auction somewhere. Find a buyer and they get the coin put it away not knowing what they have. Educate yourself , find a dealer who is trustworthy , and only buy from individuals with a 100 % positive track rating. Not 99% 100 % if they pulled it once they are likely to pull it again.

 

And sadly they will never be able to tell until they start focusing on the actual coin

 

really sad wonder how many end up on ebay they can basically make any coin....

 

How do you tell a fake PCGS coin from the real thing?

 

This is a good article: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/fake-pcgs-slab-diagnostics-4071199.

 

Lol, this is funny. The chinese copied the sticker on this seller's slab!
Fake.
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...12010615/itm2home-1.8148356.13.37d527denpepnj
Real.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/C8619-1867...pr65+rb+1867&_from=R40&rt=nc&LH_TitleDesc=0|0

 

It ain’t funny, McGee. Reputable, knowledgeable dealers likely will catch these fake slabs. But I think they have the potential to shut down a lot of eBay commerce, which will hurt the little, honest sellers.

 

Well, excuse me for asking!

 

I don't like slabs. Never have never will. I don't trust TPGs. Never have never will.
Most all fakes start off as pristine MS-65 or better. Smart crooks weather them to avoid discovery. Foolish crooks keep them in mint state. If there are 1500 coins made in the original strike and there are more than that certified you have a problem with quality control at the TPG. If you have a quarter million made like the 1909-s-vdb and more than 2500 mint state examples remaining it is also dubious.
Even coins dug from the ground can sometimes be fake so buyer beware. TANSTAAFL. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

 

Considering the company listing them is in China and is most likely posting from there they are not in the US and US laws don't apply. What they are doing THERE is legal THERE. PCGS can't sue them is a Chinese court because they aren't doing anything illegal in China, and the can't sue in a US court because they aren't within US jurisdiction. Even if they could sue in a US court and win, there is no way to enforse the judgement.

It was a good article at one time, but the fake slabs shown are first generation fake slabs. They have made a lot of improvements to their fake slabs since then and most if no all of the diagnostics shown no longer apply. The one slab shown with the chinese text on the label is a genuine PCGS slab. It was a sample slab issued at a show in Hong Kong when PCGS was setting up a submission office in Asia.

 

Ali Baba is much like ebay in that it's a venue to sell. Knowledge is power when buying anything, including coins. I have see these Chinese fakes on every site I visit, Listia, Webstore, Etsey and others. Most people listing them do it correctly but some do not. The ones who do not are preying on those without knowledge or maybe got scammed themselves and are trying to dump them. Ali Baba is less the culprit than those who buy their listed products and try to re-market them as the real deal. So trying to sue the people who sell this stuff is an impossible task being way too costly. We must continue to be the sentinels for coin collectors everywhere and that's what makes this site as powerful and valuable as it is. When you see these items, report them if you have the time. Continue to post them here so we can guide you. And make sure you tell all your friends who collect to give us a try first.

 

I don't even trust 100%, especially for big sellers. I always go to their feedback section and look for negatives and neutrals to see what they are really like. You can find many 100% from people who have sold say, 150,000 items and possibly find hundreds or more negatives. Reading the negatives gives one a much better idea about how some customers feel and the sellers overall reliability, customer service, return info, etc. IMHO.

 

It's so fake a blind man can see it.

 

And yet someone sold one on eBay a while back for a boatload of cash...sad.