justaminute

You ask a very good question. I have seen some truly laughable fakes being bid up to the most ridiculous levels. This often applies to ugly looking trade dollars with the wrong reverse and 1914-D cents that obviously started off life as 1944-D before tampering. The fact is that buyers should learn about coins and the pitfalls before ever bidding for them, but they often don't. I do make a habit of reporting what I see but my son often tells me to stop wasting time and stop getting wound up and to stop protecting others from themselves. Sometimes, when I tip buyers off when I discover that they are victims and they can't even be bothered to thank me, I wonder whether my son may well have a point!

Have you checked to see whether the coin is of the correct weight? I ask this because I had a New Zealand crown that was similarly double struck, even down to the extent of the rotation of the second striking but when I weighed it, it was several grams too light and turned out to be a Chinese counterfeit.

Both fakes have been removed.

The rules relating to Sheldon grades, TPGs and images of the holders only apply to the US site.

There are absolutely no controls on German eBay. Anybody can sell any coin they wish there and if they want to sell a fake without acknowledging what they are doing, they will get away with it. So-called Trust & Safety on eBay's German site is invisible and incompetent.

You cannot sell any copies or replicas whether marked or not on the US site. These fakes will undoubtedly be removed by eBay - watch this space! extant4cell, where did you report the rubbish because the seller has been offering other fakes and the completed 1855 dollar is probably also fake?