eBay tacitly approves of Chinese Counterfeit Coins
I wanted to bring up an issue that’s becoming harder to ignore: eBay is *tacitly allowing* counterfeit coins, primarily from China, to be listed and sold on their platform despite their own stated policies against counterfeit currency.
eBay’s policy is very clear—counterfeit coins are not allowed to be sold. Yet, if you spend even a few minutes searching, you’ll find endless listings of obvious fakes: Morgan dollars, Trade dollars, early U.S. gold pieces, and even modern bullion coins. Many of these are direct copies of U.S. Mint products, some marked “replica†in fine print, others not labeled at all. The common denominator? Most of them are shipping straight out of China.
The troubling part is that eBay seems to *look the other way*. Collectors have been reporting these listings for years, and while eBay will occasionally take down a few, the problem never goes away. In fact, it seems to be growing. That raises the question: why have a policy at all if they won’t enforce it?
By refusing to act decisively, eBay is creating a marketplace where counterfeits are normalized and genuine collectors are put at risk. New collectors, especially, are the most vulnerable. Someone who doesn’t know the telltale signs of a fake could easily lose hundreds of dollars, thinking they’ve found a good deal.
This isn’t just about buyers, either. Every counterfeit that changes hands undermines the entire coin market, hurting dealers, honest sellers, and the integrity of the hobby itself.
At the end of the day, eBay profits from every sale through fees. Until the penalties for allowing counterfeits outweigh the revenue, I suspect they’ll continue to turn a blind eye.
If you care about the hobby, the best thing you can do is:
* Avoid buying coins from overseas sellers (especially from China).
* Stick to trusted dealers and marketplaces with stronger vetting.
* Report obvious fakes, even if eBay rarely acts—it creates a paper trail.
* Spread awareness so fewer collectors get burned.
It’s disappointing, but at this point it feels like eBay’s “no counterfeit†policy is little more than window dressing
simba6
·8 months agoWhy would anyone buy such items from them?
gurlcat
·8 months agoI knowingly, purposely bought a few fake Morgan dollars once, to put in belt buckles that had just the right-sized cartouches. And of course I stated clearly in my listings that they were fake. But they looked pretty cool and real-enough if you were standing arm's length from someone and spending a discreet amount of time gazing at their belt region. 🤣
doc-holmes
·11 months agoIf this was strictly a coin selling site, you'd be correct. But it's not. There is a plethora of items that can and are faked. What makes coins so special?
krazzykats
·11 months agoI understand it might be a lot to ask, but if only 100 coins are being mass counterfeited, is there a place or way you could post that list?
It may make the others here clearer on what you are saying.
I know a couple of the highly counterfeited coins, but not 100 of them. I do not collect coins as a hobby. But others may also like to look at this list and if more reports come in on some listings, maybe eBay will take another look at the problem. 💸
But what 100 coins specifically, I'd really like to know. 😊
And what stainless posted was to clearly show some counterfeit examples, emphasizing how challenging it is for eBay to detect scams given their sheer volume across numerous categories.
My solution is that brand-new sellers should not be permitted to sell bullion or large quantities of it until they have built a solid reputation. This could also help slow down the creation of new accounts solely for listing and relisting counterfeits.
At least limit a brand-new seller to single quantities of a coin.
Who even owns multiple rare coins in identical condition?
I’m sure exceptions could be made for someone who is an established coin store or dealer with the proper business documentation and verification, but I would think most of the large, reputable coin sellers are already on eBay.
á“šá˜á—¢
angadacoins
·11 months agoThank you for your thoughtful reply. This is not an exhaustive list, just the most popular and most counterfeited. I have no doubt that the same people who scream that it's impossible to do anything about counterfeits will disagree with this list, because they feel like they have to disagree with everything in order to feel smart. That's ok, it's all they have.
Lincoln Cents 1¢
* 1909-S VDB: The most famous and valuable regular-issue Lincoln cent, essential for completing a set.
* 1914-D: The scarcest wheat penny from the Denver Mint due to low mintage.
* 1931-S: A Depression-era rarity with a very low mintage.
* 1922 "No D": A valuable variety where the D mint mark is missing.
* 1955 Doubled Die Obverse (DDO): A major error coin prized by collectors. * 1909-S (without the VDB initials)
* 1910-S, 1911-S, 1912-S, 1913-S, 1914-S, 1915-S
* 1924-D
* 1926-S
Jefferson Nickels 5¢
* 1939-D, 1939-S
* 1950-D: The most well-known key date for the series. * 1938-D, 1938-S
* 1949-S, 1950, 1951-S, 1955
* 1939 Doubled Die Reverse (DDR): A sought-after variety.
Mercury Dimes 10¢
* 1916-D: Famous and highly prized for its low mintage.
* 1942/1 and 1942/41-D: Significant overdate varieties.
* 1921, 1921-D, 1926-S, 1931-D, 1931-S. * 1919-D, 1919-S
Standing Liberty Quarters 25¢
* 1916: The first year of issue with a very low mintage, making it an absolute key date.
* 1918/7-S: An overdate variety from the San Francisco Mint.
* 1921, 1923-S, 1927-S. * 1919-D
Washington Quarters 25¢
* 1932-D and 1932-S: Both are considered the main key dates of the series due to their low mintages in the first year.
* 1934-D. * 1937 DDO, 1943 DDO, 1943-S DDO, 1950-D/S Over Mint Mark (OMM), 1950-S/D OMM (all varieties).
Walking Liberty Half Dollars 50¢
* 1916-S.
* 1921, 1921-D, 1921-S.
* 1938-D. * 1919-D.
Morgan Dollars $1
* 1889-CC: A prominent key date from the Carson City Mint.
* 1893-S: The lowest mintage business strike Morgan Dollar, making it the most famous key date in the series.
* 1895 Proof: No business strikes were issued in this year, so only proofs exist for a complete date set.
* 1895-O.
* 1878-CC.
* 1879-CC, 1880-CC, 1881-CC, 1882-CC, 1885-CC.
Peace Dollars $1 * 1921: The first year of issue, struck in high relief.
* 1928.
* 1934-S. * 1924-S, 1925-S, 1927-S.
gone.c-33
·11 months agoThat’s like saying big American cities approve of counterfeit luxury handbags because fakes are sold on the street everywhere.
You have a very simplistic understanding of the situation.
angadacoins
·11 months agoIt is very simple. New York conducts raids all the time against those handbags sellers. I know, I almost got caught up in one about 25 years ago. It doesn't eradicate the trade, but it definitely makes a difference. eBay is doing nothing to curb the illicit trade in this case. That's the difference.
gone.c-33
·11 months agoLoads of sellers of counterfeit items are NARUed every day. Just because of of those sellers haven’t been caught while you were in the middle of a transaction with them doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
markabarrow0
·8 months agoWhat ebay should do is once a buyer reports/proves a seller is selling counterfeit coins or other counterfeit items ebay should immediately ban that seller from ebay and refund the buyers money. Ebays position on this issue is to advise the buyer to return the item for a refund. The problem with this is most of the time the seller ignores the request for a refund or disappears only to pop up under a new ebay acct, And why should the buyer return the counterfeit item? The seller will just sell it again to some unsuspecting buyer. Ebay needs to get serious about this issue. I'm sure there are hundreds if not thousands of coin buyers who don't know that their coins are fake. I didn't know until I took my coins to a professional. Over a 5 month period I purchased 6 coins from 5 different sellers. When I had them checked out they were all fake. Ebay did refund money on one of the coins as the seller had disappeared and they did take down the listing on another seller. I still haven't received a refund on 5 of the coins as ebay wants me to return the fake coins to the seller. I can't do this as I have turned the coins over to law enforcement. Bottom line: Don't buy coins from China and check and double check the authinticity of any coins you buy.`
krazzykats
·11 months agoPerhaps brand-new sellers with zero feedback should be restricted from selling large "quantities" of antique coins until additional verifications are completed to ensure quality and reputation.
Or maybe these new sellers should only be allowed to sell coins once they achieve a specific level of positive reputational feedback?
Just sharing some thoughts.
á“šá˜á—¢
grann-4629
·8 months agoOr maybe the people who are buying them need to be a little smarter and be able to determine what is real and what to avoid, like many posters here seem to be able to do.
Take away the market and the fakes will disappear.
boa_16200
OP11 months agoWe're only talking about 100 or so "key coins" that Chinese counterfeiters sell. It's not like every listing would need to be looked at. A few thousand, perhaps, which one full time person could handle.
grann-4629
·8 months agoMaybe a few thousand every couple of days ... would be hard for one person to handle, and who would want to do this for minimum wage ...
How would they 'look' at them? Sellers maybe have to send them to an expert first, then the expert ships them to the buyer, or melts them into a lamp? Sellers send pictures, which are the same pictures the experts see when doing a search?
A solution would be nice, but not practicable. It is, and always has been "Buyer Beware". eBay does have a money back guarantee, but the coins would still have to be verified by someone, somehow, someday.
krazzykats
·11 months agoFakes are usually sold at prices below market value, which is a definite red flag. I’d say to never purchase bullion from unknown online sellers—as a scammer has no morals or conscience when it comes to taking people’s money.
Fake coins, gemstones, designer goods, and the bait-and-switch tactics are often posted online by scammers to lure in buyers with that deal of a lifetime price.
Junk drawers and broken electronics are another disaster on eBay. People list piles of useless junk for sale, claiming it's someone else's treasure, but it's really just broken, dirty, and ruined items that belong in the trash.
It would be impossible for eBay to monitor all of it, which is unfortunate.
But it’s also a shame people can’t be more honest and stop wrecking the integrity of the site as well.
It's not eBay, it's some of the people selling on Ebay.
á“šá˜á—¢
boa_16200
OP11 months agoWhile I agree that unscrupulous sellers are the responsible people, eBay doesn't even try to curb counterfeiters activity. Even when listings are submitted to them that are blatantly obvious, they send back a form letter saying the listing doesn't violate their policy. I have submitted dozens of reports and not a single one has been taken down. These are obvious fakes, yet eBay takes no action.
Of course they will never catch every fake, but they don't even try. It's like police just deciding that stopping crime is just too hard, so let's just stay at the donut shop.
tobaccocardyahoo
·11 months agoCoin buyers on Ebay learn very quickly that they must know how to recognize counterfeit coins.
Most do and do not buy counterfeits.
Were buyers actually buying counterfeits and filing Ebay MBG claims, these sellers would be gone.
You underestimate many of the coin collectors who buy on Ebay. This is not like 50+ years ago when there were an enormous number of coin and stamp collectors, and the crooks were all here in the US selling to them.
boa_16200
OP11 months agoYou can see how many items they sell in the listings. It's more, way more than you think
soh.maryl
·11 months agoNot doubting your word, but just curious, how is it not like 50plus yrs ago?
What's changed and why?
gurlcat
·11 months agoNot to answer for him, but I'm an amateur coin person too, and I know one major difference between now and 50 years ago is the internet and its ability to bring hobbyists (of all kinds) together. Before the internet, all you had was books and (maybe) occasional in-person meetups, buy/sell shows, etc. Now hobbyists can have daily conversations, and even share stuff like closeup photos of tiny details, etc. There are also vast internet databases of known errors, sales records, etc.
So with that, even a brand new coin collector is bound to learn how to avoid fakes much faster than if he were isolated and relying on a few books with grainy images. It's not uncommon for someone to take photos straight from an eBay listing and post them on a Community forum, asking for help with assessing its authenticity.
boa_16200
OP11 months agoThe number of fakes has ballooned. They are coming in from Chinese factories by the boatload, not like the homegrown counterfeiters of 1975
doc-holmes
·11 months agoThen please explain how eBay polices every item and category, and not just the one you care about?
grann-4629
·8 months ago50 years ago, China was mostly known for that big wall they built.
It's a little different now, and apart from the almost-pefect fakes they produce, they are way ahead of this side of the world in technology, communication, transportation and really neat toys and games, and I think this may be one of the reasons people want to avoid them. In a lot of cases, they make a better product at a better price. Perhaps there's a little jealously here?
soh.maryl
·11 months agoeBay has no way of knowing for sure when you submit a report about a seller with counterfeits, if you actually are knowledgeable in the field or are just a competitor trying to get rid of the competition. Again, no one at eBay actually sees or evaluates anything sold here (except the authentications.)
mudshark61369
·11 months ago@boa_16200 ,
"Collectors have been reporting these listings for years, and while eBay will occasionally take down a few, the problem never goes away. In fact, it seems to be growing. That raises the question: why have a policy at all if they won’t enforce it"?
What good is reporting a listing when even if a real person looks at it and sees photos of a real coin they have no reason to pull it?
The simplest way to avoid counterfeit items on ebay is not to buy from china based sellers, and to check each seller's feedback profile. Most chinese seller even the ones that list item locations in the U.S., have feedback comments about slow shipping, poor quality, incomplete orders, and items delivered from china.
boa_16200
OP11 months ago15 of them were sold. A lot of people new to coin collecting, younger people who are excited thinking they have found a great deal - these people may not be as savvy as you. I don't believe that eBay should eradicate all fake coins, but they don't even try. When listings like this are reported, they send a form letter saying that the listing doesn't violate policy. It's obvious to me, you and anyone with some knowledge of US coins that it's a fake. What would be so terrible with eBay hiring one or two people to scrub listings like this, which are so obviously fakes to someone with knowledge, but manage to fool many others. As a seller of coins, I see this as hurting my business. As a buyer, I have to worry about a coins authenticity more.
I don't understand why so many of you seem to be ok with Chinese companies flooding the US collectible coin market with counterfeits, that are often passable to the untrained eye. Can you help me out here? Why just throw your hands up and declare the problem a lost cause? Not even going to try. Sad.
msha3839
·11 months agoPlease, stop protecting so called new collectors..prior to buying they have a lot to learn and know what they doing..especially greedy ones who think that they are clearly got a good deal..yes, good deals can be found but it comes in extremely rare cases…no one is ok with counterfeit items but from the beginning of times they existed...let people learn from mistakes…
grann-4629
·8 months ago'I don't understand why so many of you seem to be ok with Chinese companies flooding the US collectible coin market with counterfeits'
I don't see so many posts from people who think this is OK. Can you point to ... three maybe?
It seems most posters are against this practice and are looking for some help from eBay to acknowledge the problem and do some magic to reduce or stop it ... providing it doesn't hurt their bottom line.
soh.maryl
·11 months agoThere have been more than a few posts recently about this issue.
As we are mostly aware, no one employed by eBay actually sees coins before they are posted for sale here. What would be your suggestion that eBay could do about this issue, given this fact?
boa_16200
OP11 months agoFirst, they could actually remove listings that people report as fake, and are obviously fake.
Second, they could hire one or two people with some knowledge of numismatics, or they could even train someone to spot fake listings.
It's not rocket science. Give me or anyone with my basic knowledge and hour, and I could identify dozens of counterfeit listings. It won't completely solve the problem, but it would make a difference.
stainlessenginecovers
·11 months agoThe site is not 'tacitly allowing' anything and to state so is absurd.
If they don't state counterfeit; it is NOT obvious. There are 2,000,000,000 (billion) listings which means easily 2 to 10 million listings get listed every day. There is NOT a 'person' that looks at any or every listing and if they did, they would have to be a 'hired expert' for each thing, which would mean hiring about 10,000,000+ additional 'expert' employees to 'look at and determine' etc.
So, it's just the way it is on a large site. Buyers buy and then file 'not as described' and when enough are filed, that seller goes bye bye. If there are 1,000 'other' sellers doing the same, nothing the site could possibly do about it. It's up to you, the buyer 'caveat emptor'
boa_16200
OP11 months agoYou are wrong on a couple of things. First, according to the email sent out after a listing is reported:
We looked into your report and didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy. This determination was made by a customer service agent.
Also, every listing does not need to be looked at. If someone is selling toenail clippers, there's no need to check for counterfeits. So that's a ridiculous argument
The number of listings for US coins is around 140,000 auctions and around 1.8 million buy it now listings. Of those, only a fraction are "key" coins that counterfeiters will bother with. in fact, half of the listings are under $20, which is about the threshold for counterfeiters to operate.
So, CONTRARY to what you are claiming, there is no need to look at 2 billion listings. In fact, there are less than 100 key US coins that could be monitored.
Don't you think it's possible for one or two people to keep an eye on 100 coins?
Doesn't seem too difficult to me.
stainlessenginecovers
·11 months ago@boa_16200 you are the one that is wrong, by far!
There are almost 4,000,000 listings for 'coins' alone (not counting paper money, add another 600,000 listings)).
What about Trading Cards, Sneakers, Handbags, Perfumes, Jewelry, Tools, Tool Batteries, Generators, Water Filters.....the list goes on and on. MILLIONS of listings!! No WAY to 'monitor' listings created.
Caveat Emptor buddy.
angadacoins
·11 months agoHey Buddy, only about 100 US collectible coins are counterfeited. They don't bother with coins that sell for $20 or less. I shouldn't have to explain this, but I forget I'm dealing with someone who doesn't think things through before blasting out misinformation. If you want to debate about whether eBay can monitor 100 coin types, let's go. Otherwise, you don't know what you're talking about, so just have a seat.
house*of*paws
·11 months ago@angadacoins You appear to be the OP posting under another account to send your ‘Hey Buddy’ insultgram. I was curious about whether that was accidental or deliberate. 🤔
angadacoins
·11 months agoAccidental. I am liquidating an estate and needed to create a 2nd account to do so. I forgot to sign out of that one. No conspiracy, just a simple oversight.
stainlessenginecovers
·11 months agoMisinformation? You mean my screen shots of how many listings there are for Coins vs the 140,000 that was stated?
On another note: You state they "won't do it for coins under $20" but they'll do it for coins for $28 and $29.
Brilliant.
markabarrow0
·8 months agoWhat a rude, arrogant reply, The counterfeit coin problem on ebay is way worse then most people realize. A lot of buyers of coins on ebay don't know their coins are counterfeit. I didn't until I had my coins checked out by a professional. So, hey buddy, why don't you add something meaningful to the conversation instead of some smart ass reply. What a jerk.