"Dave Welsh" wrote in message
news:4l3Gg.1407$AP2.118@fed1read10...
"Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote in message
...

"Dave Welsh" wrote in message
news:Sp1Gg.1399$AP2.460@fed1read10...
An eBay auction (closed August 4) sold a Macedonian tetradrachm,
positively
identified as a fake by Cliff Laubstein, who reported this on the Coin
Forgery Discussion List (CFDL):


I don't believe everything I read on that forum, but in this case I
think
he
is correct.

Here is a link to the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=160013058599

It sure looks real to me. That's why I have no business bidding on such
items. Whose fault would it have been, therefore, had I bid and won?

As I have been pointing out, it would have been eBay's fault. eBay should
not allow fakes to be sold, or other fraudulent activity that could be
prevented with reasonable precautions.

The Government should not allow eBay to operate a venue that is polluted
by
ongoing criminal activity. The extent of fraud on eBay is massive.

I suppose that, if the fraud could be isolated and viewed as a separate
entity, it would indeed be massive. I have certainly seen my share of it.
A fake 1799 large cent just closed last evening for well over a thousand
dollars. The sorry bidder (if he is real, that auction had private bidding
also) or his/her heirs will one day have a nasty surprise. We'll all stand
around and lament about how Grandpa got taken by an online sharpie who saw
him coming. Such people should be publicly flogged, then drawn and
quartered, we'll say, some of us out loud. No one will ever think to
suggest that maybe Grandpa should have invested in some reference materials,
read them, and heeded them, thereby girding himself for the Battle of Copper
Creek. There were several on this newsgroup and several on another who
spotted this 1799 forgery with no trouble at all, just as you have done with
the bogo ancient coin, not because we're geniuses, but because we care
enough to educate ourselves ahead of time against chicanery. A true
numismatist will then share his knowledge in an attempt to educate others.
Some of us have paid tuition in various amounts, yours truly included. I've
yet to meet a collector who hasn't, in fact. If it's not an out-and-out
forgery, it's cleaning, hidden damage, or, what is the most common forgery
of all, overgrading.

Nevertheless, I don't have access to a number that represents the total, and
therefore, the percentage, of online auctions that are bogus. Do you? If
yes, you can strengthen your argument against online auction services by
providing that documentation. Otherwise, anyone's guess is as good as
yours, and no better than examining an elephant through a soda straw. And
the whole issue becomes tantamount to buying watermelons at the Saturday
morning farmer's market.

Mr. Jaggers