Millions of coins are sold and bought on eBay each year. And while eBay has proven to be a valuable medium for many, some feel it has lost touch with those who made it a giant.
eBay announced on Jan. 29 that it would restructure fees, change the buyer and seller grading system, change site searching, and create discounts for their best sellers.
A lawsuit was filed Jan. 10, 2008 against eBay, the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) for defamation and unfair and deceptive trade practices.
The suit was filed in United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida by National Numismatic Certification, LLC (NNC), ASA Accugrade, Inc (ACG), PCI Coin Grading, Inc (PCI), Treasure Gallery, Inc., Sovereign Entities Grading Service, Inc.(SEGS) and Centsles, Inc. The suit seeks damages:
Reflecting on inflation numbers can be interesting and many times surprising. As an example, one dollar in 1915 has the same buying power as $20.69 today.
More recently, a dollar in 2000 has the same buying power as $1.21 today. Given that, could you… would you… believe a 2000 box of Cheerios® is now worth a few hundred bucks?
There’s obviously more than inflation in play here. This particular Cheerios box may… just may… have a Sacagawea golden dollar worth ten grand.
Buying a box of Cheerios® in January of 2000 bought you more than a good breakfast. You were given one shot at a very special Sacagawea golden coin.
Just a dollar you say? Not quite. These Cheerios dollars are now being sold for several thousand dollars each.
You likely remember the introduction of the Sacagawea golden dollars back in 2000. It’s hard not to remember. The U.S. Mint spent $53,000,000 that year on marketing and advertising just to get your attention.
eBay’s trying to step up efforts to stymie fraudulent numismatic listings and the selling of counterfeit coins.
Last week they implemented an updated policy for how certified coins could be listed in online auctions. What’s changed?
In writing, not much. The policy guidelines aren’t exactly long. However, the changes they detail are significant.
