Today I called the Secret Service to report fake silver dollars on Ebay

[the count]

Is it just me? For a while now i have been wondering how in god's name can chinese counterfeiters sell fake silver dollars on Ebay. Silver dollars are still legal tender so even though the ones they show on Ebay have a 'replica' or 'copy' stamped onto them they are PRINTING OUR MONEY! Its no different than letting them sell counterfeit paper money or fake Nike's. Just because there is a little stamp makes it OK? In any case, the agent i spoke to seemed genuinely surprised to hear what I had to say and took down an ebay auction number to see for himself.

What got me started is that now they are offering fake silver dollars made out of 90% silver, JUST LIKE THE REAL THING. And of course, the years and mints they are faking are the rare ones.... Anybody who knows the counterfeiters knows that they will gladly send you coins without the 'replica' stamp on them. In just the last month I had 2 fake CC (expensive) morgans shipped to me. After making a big stink I got my money back, BUT WHY IS EBAY GIVING THESE CROOKS A PLATFORM AT ALL?? Something stinks real bad here....

Want to see for yourself how bad this is? Go to ebay and use "morgan dollar copy" as a search term. you will get my guess) hundreds of results, depending on the time of day.

[LDA]

Haven't you heard, bro? Counterfeiting is legal now, as it long as it serves political interests in Washington.

[ScoutsHonor]

A Ccounterfeit Coin Detector for silver would be a great boon; hopefully some enterprising businessman will offer such an item to us in the Silver-investing community.

(There already exists a Counterfeit Gold Coin Detector; these are great and are used by the big banks, etc.)

[tmosley]

Try this one: don't buy for numismatics. That way, you need only be concerned about the value of the metal you are getting, rather than how pretty the coin is, which is subjective and never in your favor anyways.

[John Q. Revere]

There may be something that you clip on a coin of any metal, set the "metal" setting, say to Gold, and it passes a small electric current through it to test resistance, other features that are only inherent in that element.

Again, you could counterfeit that too, but maybe good protection against fraud trading in small amounts.

[dannno]

So you're still getting 90% silver tho ya?

Personally, I'd rather get some 90% silver that wasn't legal tender so that it would be legal to melt down if needs be. I wouldn't want to overpay for it, though.

[the count]

So you're still getting 90% silver tho ya?

Personally, I'd rather get some 90% silver that wasn't legal tender so that it would be legal to melt down if needs be. I wouldn't want to overpay for it, though.

First of all, they chinese SAY it's 90% silver. Do you trust what a counterfeiter tells you? Plus, the actual silver value of a real silver dollar is just around 14 bucks. The chinese sells theirs for $20. I say, force Ebay to stop this nonsense.

[Brian4Liberty]

Have you reported the seller to EBay? (And provided feedback?)

E-Bay can't police all of the content placed there. They would have to rely on buyers reporting sellers, and like you did, you can report them to other authorities if they are engaged in fraud.

[dannno]

Ya if a buyer has a 95-99% approval rating, you should checkout what that 1-5% of complaints are, cause they could be valid.

Part of ebay is about self-policing, though they will mediate in some cases.

[Icymudpuppy]

I bought 30 .999 silver walking liberty dollar coins of various years a few years ago for $11 a piece.

The silver alone is worth almost twice what I paid for them, and I have no idea what the numismatic value is.

I think it worked out well.

[the count]

Have you reported the seller to EBay? (And provided feedback?)

E-Bay can't police all of the content placed there. They would have to rely on buyers reporting sellers, and like you did, you can report them to other authorities if they are engaged in fraud.

its not ONE seller or TWO sellers... just do a search on ebay for "morgan copy" pages upon pages from all kinds of sellers, all in china. and NGC and other grading companies over the years have tried to stop this be working with ebay, to no avail.

it is the job of the secret service to keep counterfeit currency under control.

[the count]

I bought 30 .999 silver walking liberty dollar coins of various years a few years ago for $11 a piece.

The silver alone is worth almost twice what I paid for them, and I have no idea what the numismatic value is.

I think it worked out well.

walking liberty coins are not .999 silver, sorry to burst your bubble. they are 90% silver, just like franklin half dollar coins. the current melt value of a walker is about $7.00 (half of a silver dollar)

[tmosley]

walking liberty coins are not .999 silver, sorry to burst your bubble. they are 90% silver, just like franklin half dollar coins. the current melt value of a walker is about $7.00 (half of a silver dollar)

Some mints have produces rounds with the walking liberty design.

[the count]

Some mints have produces rounds with the walking liberty design.

oh, you must mean like the silver one ounce buffalo coins that apmex sells.... in that case, congrats! you are ahead of the game.

[tmosley]

oh, you must mean like the silver one ounce buffalo coins that apmex sells.... in that case, congrats! you are ahead of the game.

Well, I didn't buy them, I just know they are made. I've never bought silver off of Ebay, since I came within a hair's breadth of falling for the Chinese counterfeit coin scam myself. Now I only buy from big names, like APMEX.

[Zippyjuan]

Is it just me? For a while now i have been wondering how in god's name can chinese counterfeiters sell fake silver dollars on Ebay. Silver dollars are still legal tender so even though the ones they show on Ebay have a 'replica' or 'copy' stamped onto them they are PRINTING OUR MONEY! Its no different than letting them sell counterfeit paper money or fake Nike's. Just because there is a little stamp makes it OK? In any case, the agent i spoke to seemed genuinely surprised to hear what I had to say and took down an ebay auction number to see for himself.

What got me started is that now they are offering fake silver dollars made out of 90% silver, JUST LIKE THE REAL THING. And of course, the years and mints they are faking are the rare ones.... Anybody who knows the counterfeiters knows that they will gladly send you coins without the 'replica' stamp on them. In just the last month I had 2 fake CC (expensive) morgans shipped to me. After making a big stink I got my money back, BUT WHY IS EBAY GIVING THESE CROOKS A PLATFORM AT ALL?? Something stinks real bad here....

Want to see for yourself how bad this is? Go to ebay and use "morgan dollar copy" as a search term. you will get my guess) hundreds of results, depending on the time of day.

Did you get the coins at an incredibly low price? That can be a clue. I saw a Morgan silver dollar in one of the registers at work and quickly asked if I could trade a paper dollar for it. Ok. Got home and looked it up to see what it would be worth and found it was a fake. Why do people sell fakes on eBay? Because people will buy them and they make money off them. If they are fake are they really 90% silver? If they are silver how can you be certain they are fakes? In the case of the one I had, the coin has a different sound if you drop it and the date is uneven (the last number is a little smaller and is crooked relative to the rest).

With eBay purchases it is buyer beware. Best to buy from dealers.

[the count]

Did you get the coins at an incredibly low price? That can be a clue. I saw a Morgan silver dollar in one of the registers at work and quickly asked if I could trade a paper dollar for it. Ok. Got home and looked it up to see what it would be worth and found it was a fake. Why do people sell fakes on eBay? Because people will buy them and they make money off them. If they are fake are they really 90% silver? If they are silver how can you be certain they are fakes? In the case of the one I had, the coin has a different sound if you drop it and the date is uneven (the last number is a little smaller and is crooked relative to the rest).

With eBay purchases it is buyer beware. Best to buy from dealers.

OK, let me explain it again. Chinese sellers offer copies of silver dollars. 2-3 dollars incl. ship for white copper fakes. if you ask, they ship without the "copy' stamp on them. crooked american seller lists coin on ebay as real (usually the more desirable dates). with many coins no way to tell from the picture alone. so these fakes achieve almost the same prices as real one.... fast forward to today. chinese seller offers copy, but MADE OUT OF 90% SILVER, charging 20 dollars for this (the dont give away silver for free, assuming it really is silver). coin's date makes the coin worth 500 dollars! ebay and the cops' job is to PROTECT THE PUBLIC. i dont agree that one has to be soooo smart and savvy to steer clear of any and all pitfalls. its the crook who is at fault, not the victim.

if chinese guys sold exact copies of gucci handbags, just with a little notice somewhere 'copy', there would be a huge stink. copying our money seems to not bother anybody.....!

and just in case you think the chinese are ok, the have THOUSANDS of sleeper agents in our county already. if push ever comes to shove we are screwed.

[Icymudpuppy]

walking liberty coins are not .999 silver, sorry to burst your bubble. they are 90% silver, just like franklin half dollar coins. the current melt value of a walker is about $7.00 (half of a silver dollar)

Maybe I'm calling it the wrong thing.

To give one example: The one I'm looking at right now is a "SILVER AMERICAN EAGLE" On the face it says "LIBERTY" "In God We Trust" and "2002" with the walking liberty and a rayed sun in the lower left.

On the other side is the shield bearing Eagle with "E Pluribus Unum" on a banner and the arrows and leaves in his claws, and 13 stars centered above. The top reads "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", and the bottom says "1 OZ FINE SILVER - ONE DOLLAR".

It comes with a certificate from the Littleton Coin Company that says 99.93% silver, 0.07% copper. 31.101 grams, 40.6mm reeded edge. Uncirculated Silver Bullion.

[the count]

Maybe I'm calling it the wrong thing.

To give one example: The one I'm looking at right now is a "SILVER AMERICAN EAGLE" On the face it says "LIBERTY" "In God We Trust" and "2002" with the walking liberty and a rayed sun in the lower left.

On the other side is the shield bearing Eagle with "E Pluribus Unum" on a banner and the arrows and leaves in his claws, and 13 stars centered above. The top reads "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", and the bottom says "1 OZ FINE SILVER - ONE DOLLAR".

It comes with a certificate from the Littleton Coin Company that says 99.93% silver, 0.07% copper. 31.101 grams, 40.6mm reeded edge. Uncirculated Silver Bullion.

You are talking Silver Eagles...... Yes they are one full once of pure silver. The US mint produces those...

[Icymudpuppy]

You are talking Silver Eagles...... Yes they are one full once of pure silver. The US mint produces those...

Ok, for some reason I thought they were called Walking Liberties, not Silver Eagles.

[mczerone]

its not ONE seller or TWO sellers... just do a search on ebay for "morgan copy" pages upon pages from all kinds of sellers, all in china. and NGC and other grading companies over the years have tried to stop this be working with ebay, to no avail.

it is the job of the secret service to keep counterfeit currency under control.

Since when do you expect a Federal agency to do it's job?

Really - the proper response to this is to let your consumer friends know the scam, report to eBay, and don't buy from those guys anymore.

As someone else said - don't buy coins (numismatics), just buy slugs. The Federal Stamp ensuring the value of a coin is probably less reliable than the Counterfeiter's claim of a 90% silver content anyway.