Coin Replicas And Patterns (CRAP) on eBay

Coin Replicas And Patterns (CRAP) on eBay
eBay seems to awash with so-called replica, restrike, and pattern coins, most of which are not what they are stated to be. eBay do not appear to care.
We have decided to start this page as a partial catalogue of these items. Unfortunately the title “Coin Replicas And Patterns” creates the acronym C.R.A.P., a word we would normally prefer to avoid, rather like most of the items it describes. Most of the items listed here should be described as “Imitation”, “Fantasy”, “Fake”, or some other word or combination or words.

eBay User “55-degrees-north” and a ’22ct solid gold 1922 quarter sovereign coin’

The seller has listed a 22ct 1922 quarter sovereign for sale, despite the fact that there is no such thing.

What’s Wrong?

  • Quarter sovereigns did not exist in 1922.
  • It is described as 22 ct gold.
    It is illegal under hallmarking laws to describe an item, for purposes of trade, as gold, which is not hallmarked.
  • It probably is not 22 ct.
  • It is not a coin, but is misleadingly and fraudulently described as such.
  • Describing it such probably breaches Crown Copyright.
  • It is listed under Coins, British, George V (1910 – 1936), Sovereign.
    All 5 category descriptions are incorrect. It is a breach of eBay’s listing policies to miscategorise listings.
  • The saddest thing is that the seller has managed to sell this, which all goes to show there is a sucker born every minute (and most of them buy on eBay).

Gold, Gold Plated, or Gold Filled?
We notice many items on eBay described in their titles as gold, which are only gold-plated (sometimes called the even more misleading Americanism gold filled. Sometime the full description actually states the real metal composition, often it completely fails to do so. At best, this wastes the valuable time of many potential buyers, at worst it serves to cheat and defraud people.

Coins, Medals, or Medallions?
There are also many items being offered on eBay, and elsewhere, described as coins, which are clearly not coins. Again, sometimes the vendors are “honest” enough to describe them in the full description (or small print) as medallions, tokens, patterns, or some other euphemism, often they fail to do even this. On some occasions, the vendors use deliberately obscure and unclear descriptions in the hope that the mugs and punters will be fooled, and this seems to happen regularly judging by the astoundingly high feedback of some of these junk vendors.

  • eBay item 310375663791.jpg
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