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Secret Service - the Hobnail Boots!

One interesting observation fromt the Florida FUN show was the number of folk from eBay. They were meeting with dealers, the Professional Numismatists Guild and other organizations. It was postulated that the Secret Service is now actively training personnel to intercede in the large number of Chinese counterfeit coins coming into the U.S. (If you recall, we warned of this in an earlier article/blog). A sizable quantity of these counterfeits are being offered for sale on eBay.

It is possible that eBay’s sudden interest in stopping the sale of counterfeits may be tied to the increased attention from the Secret Service. (No! Ya' think?).

Look for one or more numismatic organizations to become involved in either combatting eBay auctions of counterfeit coins or perhaps endorsing select eBay sellers. One scenario might be where eBay identifies sellers who are members of, say, the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG). The point being that buyers could search only for lots offered by PNG members.

Remember, you have a way to protect yourself from counterfeit coins. American Coin Guild's storefront, "Picks and Shovels" offers the very best of bullion coin verification tools. You can spot a fraud before you buy! This is truly an indespensible tool for bullion buyers of all types.

E-mail us or leave a comment if you would like more information!

As they used to say on Hill Street Blues: Be careful out there! 


Comments (2)

Garry
Said this on 1-31-2012 At 04:37 am

of course, the Secret Service has always been interested in counterfeit coins and currency and Ebay has been targeted by the Chinese and other shady sellers.  There is also a group of dedicated collectors and dealers who populate the major discussion forums who identify these on-line ads and report them to Ebay. Its a great partnership.

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Starting Monday, May 2nd, we will begin running a 10-day series on mistakes to avoid in the gold and silver markets. This series is lifted from Chapter Three of our book "Going For The Gold!" and is a must read for anyone in, or contemplating, the...

And What’s in Your Wallet?

Let me share something with you - the current price of gold is immaterial. irrelevant and inconsequential - and here’s why:  ! – If you are a gambler and are trading the ups and downs of daily, weekly or even monthly prices then you really aren...

Banks Face Fraud Charges

As if you needed another excuse to own gold: An Italian judge ordered JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, UBS and a banking unit of the German company Hypo Real Estate Holding to stand trial for fraud in their handling of interest rate swaps a...

Who's Really in Charge?

Send in the clowns! In case you haven’t noticed – we are not in charge, we are embroiled in an oligarchy. Oligarchy  – from the Greek,  a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small segment of society distinguished by roya...

A New Gold Standard?

The precious metals markets are going through the roof! Silver - over $40 dollars an ounce! Gold - over $1,500 dollars an ounce Adding fuel to that fire is the fact that the Fed is printing an additional $600-billion-dollars! Now that spooks marke...

You Want Me to Deliver What????

Saving the World, One Gold Coin at a Time! Silver at $40 plus an ounce, seems a little pricey to me. That is, until I look at the cause: First, silver available for delivery on the commodity market for March was nowhere near the demand. In other w...

Welcome to Amerika!

The following items were culled from newspapers and public records – and if you need even further reason to be buying gold and silver – read on (no wonder our economy sucks!): 1 – The city of Cleveland plans to sort through curbside trash to ensur...

More Mistakes to Avoid!

TheStreet.com in late 2010, offered advice to first-time gold buyers. It is short, simple, and actually full of good advice! According to the article, there are three main mistakes to avoid: Rule #1 – Don’t get ripped off by premium Many companie...

$10,000 Gold?

This article was written by Kenneth Rogoff in the China Daily News (chinadaily.com.cn). SAN FRANCISCO – “It has never been easy to have a rational conversation about the value of gold. Lately, with gold prices up more than 300% over the last decad...

Gold As Medicine!

Here's some interesting information from the Gold Bureau:  Gold, it turns out, is good for treating cancer. One particular area is in the detection and treatment of prostate cancer. Surgeons use tiny rice sized grains of gold to more accurately lo...

Discounted Silver Coins?

From 1980 to 1991, silver was being ‘distributed’. In other words, silver sellers were more active than silver buyers. Ergo, the discount on silver and silver coins. Eventually, those circumstances changed, and silver’s price stopped fallin...

The Fed the Rothschilds and Gold!

What do The Rothschilds of London and Berlin; the Lazard Brothers of Paris; Israel Moses Seif of Italy; Kuhn, Loeb and Warburg of Germany; and the Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and the Rockefeller families of New York have in common? Recor...

Coin Collectors You Might Know

Excerpt of an article from The United States Gold Bureau: “Throughout history there have been many famous people who were known to be numismatists or coin collectors, a hobby which is shared by millions of people around the world. Some names ...

Booyah This, Cramer!

Here’s the deal – If you were offered stock in Apple or Google at $35 a share – would you take it? And if you did, would you place a stop loss order, just in case your entry price was too high? That is exactly the prospect in front of you right no...

Discount Silver is WAY Too cheap!

According to a report by Richard Daughty (aka:The Mogambo Guru): A June 2010 brochure from silverinsidersreport.com contains these interesting facts about SLV, the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) for silver: The writer, Peter Keusgen, says that SLV i...

Thomas Jefferson Said it Best!

All this wisdom and he only rates a nickel? Quotes attributed to Thomas Jefferson:  1 - “A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of ...

Time to Cash Out?

Are we near the top for gold and silver? – Is it time to cash out and take our profits? In a word: No !!! When prices peaked in January 1980, there was a hypodermic needle top created (straight up followed by an almost immediate decline). Whe...

Hi Ho Silver!

How much demand is too much? How popular must an investment such as silver become before it is too popular and becomes a contrary investment? These are the questions to be asking right now regarding silver. Contrarian analysis would indicate that...

Me and the Renminbi

Decoupling from the US Dollar In late June 2010, gold prices took a beating on the news that China was going to let its currency float. China would decouple its currency, the renminbi (RMB), from its historical peg to the U.S. Dollar (USD). ...

Silly Me!

Well, will you just look at me! I obviously don’t understand the situation at all! Here I am fear mongering when it is so-o-o obvious to everyone else that happy days are here again! My bad! I am pondering the outcome of a very negative government...

Mormon Money?!?

Utah Considers Return to Gold, Silver Coins! (From an article on FoxNews.com as reported by Stephen Clark) “The Utah House was to vote ... on legislation that would recognize gold and silver coins issued by the federal government as legal curre...

Russian Roulette With a Loaded Pistol

For the moment, it's not the United States' economic disaster that is in focus. It's Europe and Japan, that folks are concerned about. Compare a chart of the euro to the S&P 500 and you'll see a correlation because the euro tends to have an i...

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