inevitably, american sellers have been buying the fake trade dollars, morgans, and seated dollars and selling them as real - either out of ignorance, or criminality. here’s my advice on how to buy smart-
1) ALWAYS look a seller’s feedback and click on the tab “from sellers” to see if their coins came from china. don’t buy, if the seller clearly bought chinese fakes for pennies and is auction the same material has high starting prices or buyers ID concealed, report the seller to ebay - he's probably NOT making an honest mistake.
2) be aware of what the fakes look like. all seem to have the same unnatural, dull gray patina and some even have fantasy dates and nonexistent mint marks. the more you see the more obvious they become.
3)ask the seller to weigh the coin. some of the newest fakes have weights that are ALMOST correct - but almost doesn’t count. wrong is wrong. if a seller can’t weigh the coin just pass on it. chances you have a chance to buy a similar fake later on!
and most important in my book is...
4) buy from sellers who you KNOW are trustworthy and experienced. if you are a serious collector, only buy from serious dealers. that's especially true if you prefer raw coins to slabbed ones. if so make sure that the coins don’t have that even dull gray patina of chinese fakes, but toned and worn naturally - just as other coins in your collection probably have.
such is my advice on how to not get taken to the cleaners by a inept, or crooked, reseller of chinese fakes. and by all means keep reporting the chinese sellers even if it seems nothing happens - maybe if ebay gets bombarded by such reports things will change.
Guide created: 07/07/06 (updated 08/02/08)


Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our 