If you buy Chinese Silver Panda Coins on eBay, you could be buying a counterfeit coin. Many Panda Coins listed on eBay are fake. Nearly half are suspicious looking.
I rarely find fake rare American coins on eBay, but fake pandas are common.
I bought some counterfeit pandas direct from China a few years ago and now I know what to look for in a fake. They are easy to spot when you know what to look for.
The forgeries are so well done that I wish the China Mint would have a night shift specifically producing fake versions of their own highly regarded silver coins. My coins were in capsules and even mint plastic envelopes. They were seen all over the world as if they were real.
I’m not sure what made me test the authenticity of one, but I disheveled my hair and proceeded to remove the capsule from the plastic bag and then the coin from the capsule.
The first thing I did was give him the ring test. That’s where you balance the coin on the tip of your finger and hit the edge with a Paper Mate pen. It should give a sharp and sustained tinggg. This one didn’t. It was just a dull blow.
I pulled out another panda coin that I know is real and gave it the ringer test. It ranks nicely. I then compared the two coins and noticed that the suspect coin was probably 20% thicker than the real version.
The final proof of conviction was cutting it in half with a hacksaw. The inner metal was a dark gray with silver plating over it. I tried to contact the distributor in China, but they ignored my request for a refund.
What makes me think that the China Mint could be producing both the fakes and the real version of their panda coin? The fakes resemble the real thing in every detail except one: the capsule that protects them.
Remember how I said fake pandas are thicker than real ones? For them to weigh the same amount and have the same outer case dimensions, there must be additional room in the mint for a thicker coin. And there it is!
You see, the genuine Chinese panda case has three small prongs on the capsule to hold the thinnest coin. Fake coins do not have these three little points. Do you want to see how many fakes are on eBay? Look for the three small spikes on the capsule.
When I am interested in a silver panda coin that I don’t see the prongs on, I contact the seller and ask them to verify the coin with the ring test. I almost always get a response like “I know the coin is real. I’m not going to test it for you.” However, I get no response at all.
I am looking forward to buying the coins and testing myself and then reporting to eBay if they turn out to be fake. Suddenly reality hits me. It is a losing battle. It’s my word against the seller’s.
The seller can always claim that I exchanged their real coin for a fake one, just so they can accuse them of selling counterfeit coins on eBay. Selling counterfeit coins on eBay is strictly against eBay policy and will prevent you from selling on eBay again.
I can’t single-handedly stop the sale of counterfeit coins on eBay, but I can educate potential buyers to listen and not bid on counterfeit coins. I rarely find a counterfeit Morgan or Peace dollar on eBay, but there are a profusion of fake pandas for sale there.
While taking out fake and real panda coins to photograph, I also noticed that fake pandas don’t age as well as their real counterparts. To see photos of these coins that graphically show the difference between real and fake, visit: http://heritagecoingallery.com/2014/07/20/are-you-aware-of-the-profusion-of-fake- 1-oz-chinese-silver-panda-coins-on-ebay/