PLEASE don't buy any coins directly from China!
A friend of mine is an international expert on counterfeit coins. We've known for decades that China is the coin counterfeit capitol of the world but in recent years, the activity has mushroomed into unbelievable proportions. The government sanctions the counterfeiting of all coins except Chinese coins and counterfeiters are treated like respected artists. The fakes get better every year, especially with silver bullion coins like the American Eagles. One recent example I saw on eBay was a Chinese seller offering a 1948 silver Mexican 5 pesos coin for $17.00. They normally sell for 3 times that much. I could tell it was fake but I have lots of experience. The average buyer would think it's fine and the coin had 5 watchers! I haven't had a lot of luck getting ebay to stop these listings so I am appealing to buyers and sellers here. Play it safe. Just don't buy any coins from China. Not only will this protect you and your future customers, the boycott nature of this might just discourage the widespread practice of ripping off coin collectors everywhere.
ryry-jj
·1 year agoI'm baffled that anyone would ever buy a coin from China to begin with
eburtonlab
·1 year agoI'm baffled that anyone would ever buy a coin from China to begin with
Even folks that know enough to go out of their way to avoid sellers from China may not be able to tell the origin of what they are buying if they are buying from a US-registered seller that has obtained such "coins" from overseas.
Buy from sellers you trust, or verify what you buy. Or both.
sellingsanfrancisco
·1 year agojees I recently purchased 3 American Eagles @ $17 each I never checked them out just added them to my stack.
eburtonlab
·1 year ago@sellingsanfrancisco
There are apps that you can put on your phone to test silver content of coins of various types. By selecting the type of coin from a list and then balancing the coin on a fingertip and tapping the rim of the coin with a plastic pen while your phone detects the sound of the "ping" it can be compared to the spectrum of a known-valid coin and provide an indication if it matches or not.
Some options:
https://www.preciouscointester.com/en/blog/best-coin-ping-test-apps-gold-silver-2025
frugalmarketplace
·1 year ago@coin3rdgen
I wouldn’t buy anything from China to start with. It’s not just coins…there are “18K bracelets by David Yurman†for $200 that sell for $6000, and I saw some Roberto Coin earrings yesterday for $39.95 18K that sell for about $5000..all fake..and nothing is done about it.