One great thing about eBay is all I have to do is verify it's fake by a coin dealer and I get my money back without even having to return it. Same thing happened when I bought a 1oz bar that was advertised as .999 without any mention of it being 100 mils. eBay is greedy, but they don't want BS sellers reselling their BS items.
I paid for it, no biggie, I'll get a full refund and won't have to even return it. As far as the feedback, maybe you didn't look at the right person. The seller I bought it from has 373 seller ratings with only one Neg. Plus the seller I bought from has mostly all feedbacks from coin sales. Most likely he doesn't even know it's a fake. Could give two shitz if he does or not, he should have before he listed it.
Oh definetly will cut it in half. I wrote the seller and asked him where he had gotten it from because some panda experts had pronounced it a fake. And it looked different in a side by side comparison. Told him if it was it was a fake this was not going to be a simple 'item not as described send back for a refund' case.. Hie response, in all caps LOL, extreme defensiveness is never a comforting reply IMO. Something about; Dost protest too much Seller; " THE COIN CAME OUT OF SET. THAT HAD THE 83,84,AND 85 ,IN IT. I SOLD THEM FOR 4500.00 . AND THEY WERE REAL. JUST SEND THE COIN BACK FOR A FULL REFUND. I LOOKED AT THE PICTURE AND IT LOOKS OK TO ME. MOST FAKES ON THE REVERSE DONT HAVE ENOUGH POSTS." He surely meant a 93, 94, and 95, but still his reply pretty much convinces me he knows it's not real. I again would like to thank each and everyone of you for the time you invested helping me with this issue. Y'all are totally cool peeps!
I can do a video, np. Give me a couple weeks to get it, have it checked out, make sure I can get my money back without returning it, which I've done before with a bogus bar and I'll make the vid.
For silver Pandas slanted reeds start with the 2002. Best wishes, Peter Anthony http://www.pandacollector.com
As long as we are talking about authenticity and 1996 silver Pandas it may be useful to consider luster. In my experience the vast majority of Large Date 1996 silver Pandas have a very dull, unappealing luster. The exceptions are uncommon enough that the first thought that goes through my head when I see a shiny, mirrored surface on a 1996 LD is, "That is probably a fake." I strongly suggest that if you come across a pretty-looking 1996 that you examine it very carefully to make sure it's real. Best wishes, Peter Anthony http://www.pandacollector.com
Thank you Peter, very much. I feel so appreciative to have found a group of fellow Panda collectors who are not only knowledgeable but unselfish with that knowledge as well. From Yennus for starting the forum, to all the great bunch of guys who share their time with us new collectors. I hope one day I too will be able to help other new collectors. I have looked and looked and looked and looked again and I'm just not seeing the differences that seem to be so obvious to Tamo and 25. I can tell it's 'shiny' but it troubles me that I'm unable to identify all the different issues even after I'm told exactly what they are. I want to be able to buy raw Pandas, but if I can't tell a coin is a fake even when I have others pointing out all the examples, then I fear I'll be stuck paying the premiums for slabbed coins forever. Kinda bummed about that. I could buy them from trusted retailers, but their prices make me cringe. Anyway, thanks again everyone for helping.
For me it's not a question of trusting your eye but rather limiting the risks of purchasing a fake. If you want to purchase raw ungraded (I actually recommend this for investors) reduce your risk by buying double sealed, ie soft mint plastic around the mint capsule. Don't buy coins going too cheap on ebay :O. Read as much Badon over at livebusinesschat.com as you can! I agree with Peter and it's one thing I missed with my comparison, lustre is almost impossible to get right when counterfeiting... the 96 and esp the dull 95 BU Pandas have an almost marbled texture under loupes. They're great looking coins under magnification.
Guess what I'm trying to say is that there are genuine Pandas out there that arent graded... often for a number of reasons. Some collectors don't like grading, worried about packing them up and postage/insurance issues or simply can't be bothered. Obviously we'd all love 69 and 70's... I'd like to own an island and a midget but that's not feasible. Do what you can. When pricing an ungraded coin I'd go to the price of the MS69 and roughly halve it... cause if you get it graded and it comes back a 67 that's about what you'll get for it, half of a MS69. So that's the cut off for me it's how I'd work out if I'm getting a good price or not. That's very general though, often if the coin looks great in the pics you adjust your sights accordingly.. Talk to the seller, ask him about condition... I do this for every coin I buy on ebay now. You may be surprised by the responses and you get to know the sorts you're dealing with.
Is this a pic of the actual coin in question? (i.e. you have the coin to hand?) Are the dimensions / weight correct? If so, all I will say is, have the thing properly assessed before you go taking to it with a hacksaw
What are the exact dimensions; circumference and thickness? Also, I have to go and get new scales. Is a 96 supposed to weigh exactly 31.1? And I will be very thorough before I begin any surgery on my afflicted Panda.
Thanks Grizz for all the advice. I actually knew better than to buy an unsealed 'un' slabbed coin. I thought what the hay, cause I knew PayPal had my back. There is so much to learn, I got a little frustrated because I can pick up on things quickly and when I realized how little I actually know about Pandas it was like a reality check. Kudos btw for the Fantasy Island reference...classic LOL
Diameter should be 40mm Hard to find published specs re thickness, and I guess this stands to reason, given that the thickness is not consistent across the surface of the coin.. Around 3.25mm at the edge should put it in the ball park.. 31.1gm would be the minimum weight. The few Pandas that I have weighed averaged around 31.2gm The other simple test you can do is Specific Gravity. Off the top of my head, pure silver is 10.5 (or very close to that figure) Here's hoping it comes up trumps...............
