Effective February 20, 2012, eBay.com will adopt a new policy disallowing listings for replica coins. The decision was made in response to feedback from the coin collecting community, including members of the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG).
From the effective date, new replica listings and replica relistings will not be allowed. Existing listings will be allowed to expire. eBay defines replica coins as "a copy or reproduction of an actual coin, including U.S., foreign and other historic coins."
The policy will help ensure compliance with the Hobby Protection Act, which requires replica coins to be permanently marked with the word "COPY".
PNG President Jeffrey Bernberg enthusiastically endorsed eBay's decision to eliminate listings of replica coins:
"The new eBay policy is very positive for consumers. Most of us who have been in the coin business for any length of time have encountered numerous people who have been hurt by replicas -- both financially and emotionally. I personally have seen dozens of cases of people mistakenly thinking they had a real gold coin but it was merely one of the a base metal, plated "Baldwin $10" replicas distributed in the early 1960s as a give-away in cereal boxes. People truly believed these were genuine gold pieces simply because they'd been in the family for 40 or 50 years. The new eBay policy set forth with PNG's collaboration will have a lasting, positive effect for decades and even for generations to come."
As part of eBay's commitment to buyers and sellers in the coins category, they are collaborating with the coin collecting community to ensure the experience on eBay meets industry standards and is an effective destination for coin buyers and sellers. Several eBay representatives were in attendance at the PNG members meeting held at the recently concluded 2012 FUN show. As part of its work with the PNG, eBay will be setting up a program to better educate collectors about the PNG and its member dealers.
PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman added: "Stay tuned for more exciting announcements over the coming year – this is only just the beginning. eBay is committed to working with PNG to grow the business of its member dealers."
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If the items are clearly marked “copy” what is the problem? If some people are buying these really think they are genuine – well you can’t cure stupid.
The coins they Chinese sellers are sending are unmarked. Here is a real 1892 Morgan and a fake unmarked 1879-S Morgan that I bought from a Chinese seller as a test.
http://www.frankcoins.com/fakemorgans.jpg
This will not solve the problem. Many of the copy sellers will turn into fake sellers, and this will cause much more deceipt rather than others. If a user is unable to see diference between an unmarked coin sold as replica and an oriinal, imagine same replica as original.
The seller of copies will receive more money for the same job. En make a claim to a china seller….
Can someone hand me a pair of scissors so I can cut out and permanently DESTROY the section of Machins Mills currently printed in the Red Book … this will destroy a main part of our most precious area of historical coins in U.S. Numismatics … what was PNG thinking on agreeing with E-Bay ALSO on banning U. S. Colonial historical contemporary counterfeits!
It’s about time Ebay got around to banning copy coins. Far too many people get snookered by them and besides, even as copies, they can be pricey garbage. Counterfeiters have always been around since the Earth cooled. Many of the copies won’t fool a knowledgeable collector. A truly rare coin offered at a ridiculously low buyitnow price is a red flag. I’m curious as to why counterfeit modern U.S. bullion coins (offered by the sellers as “copies”) can escape the attention of the Mint and Secret Service and yet, there they be!!!
I think it is a bad Idea. I have purchased replicas because I cannot afford the originals. They look nice. I consider them art. People advertise them as replicas, so we know what we buy. I only buy the high-quality replicas.
NOTHING will stop a crook from selling a copy as an original. The new rules will help no one.
As a matter of fact, it will hurt buyers as the crooks devise more devious ways to cheat people.