Counterfeit Coins on EBay
This post is simply a reminder to always be careful when buying coins on EBay. Unless you really know what you are doing, EBay can be a horrible place to buy coins due to the number of fakes on the market. It used to be easy to tell a fake coin from an authentic coin, but, the criminals are getting better and so are the fakes.
Here is my most recent case study:
This coin was advertised as a 2011 $50 American Gold Eagle. The photo below is the Seller’s photo posted on EBay. The photos were of poor quality and it was hard to tell if the “marks” were scuffs on the capsule or the coin. The Seller had a decent rating and the coin was priced low so I figured I would buy it and see what happens. I figured the worst case scenario would involve me using PayPal’s safe buyer guarantee.
When the coin arrived it was very easy to tell that it was a counterfeit gold coin. Gold coins have a certain feel to them. I am not sure if it is how your mind bridges the gap between the weight and size of the coin once in hand but usually it is fairly easy to pick out a fake. This gold coin was no different. In fact, I did not even have to touch it to know that it was counterfeit. Here are my photos:
As you can see from my photos, this 2011 American Gold Eagle almost looks like a cartoon. Just for kicks, I figured I would try every other test as well. It failed to register as gold on my Sigma. It was underweight. I used my Kee to see if it was even gold plated and that failed as well. The easiest DIY test is the magnet test and it stuck to the magnet as seen here:
To make a long story short, I ended up contacting the Seller who refused to refund my purchase. I reached out to PayPal and they refunded my purchase under their Buyer Guarantee. At the end of the day, I was made whole and got to keep this counterfeit coin to share with others for educational purposes.
This was an easy one to spot although I am sure this coin could fool a lot of people into thinking it was legit. Keep your guard up out there!