theinkinjapan

Hi Guys, I thought I should update you. Firstly, I checked Japanese law and it seems to be illegal., The laws are here: https://www.boj.or.jp/en/note_tfjgs/note/security/gizo0410a.htm/ I imagined the main defense he would present was "not knowing" which would probably mean a slap on the wrist. Therefore, I wanted to do 3 things: 1. Video him ideally selling a batch of new coins- i bought 3 which was all he had- if he was a scammer he was likely to replace them with 3 similar or identical fakes. This would indicate, but not prove he knew they were fake and had not just happened about 3 fake coins.. 2. Ask him for a refund, and mention the law. I expected he would say no refunds and that he didn't know they were fake. 3. Call the police and ask them to come and investigate the crime. (Unlike some places, there are plenty of police and they will come even for no reason if asked) Things didn't go quite as I had imagined. Firstly, he had a much larger collection of fake coins than last time. He had about 20 and some of the were the same as the ones I had bought. I asked him about a refund, and he said basically there were no refunds but he would give me a partial refund. I ended of getting 80% of my money back. I did mention the law a couple of times, but was cautious not to get into too big of an argument before getting my partial refund. I don't know about you guys, but when something is stolen or I get ripped off, the loss of money or item annoys me much less than the act- probably somewhat influenced by only being scammed for small amounts and having cheap things stolen. I feel pretty satisfied about the outcome. I found his choice to give me back 80% interesting. I still believe what he did was illegal, and so I am not sure why he gave me 80% back. I would think he should keep all the money, or give me back 100% so I have less motivation to report him. He tried to say there is no law against it, and also that he doesn't know really what it is, and that it wasn't currency. In this situation, I would still normally report him, not for the 20% he didn't return, but because he is a scammer and no doubt scams a few people a day. Two concerns I have about taking this further are his stall is 20 meters from my apartment, and I have a 2 year old daughter- I don't want to be dramatic but the Yakuza are often involved in markets and if he is selling fake stuff the chances are higher. I am planning to let it go. What do you think?

Thanks everyone for your advice. Especially HappyPanda88 who gave me the tools I needed to objectively evaluate the coins. I checked the specific gravity and all the coins were similar at somewhere between 8 and 8.5 which I believe means they are not silver. To confirm I was doing the test right, I also checked one of my pure silver coins and it came out at about 10.5 which means I did it right. One error I made was that I assumed the seller was most likely not trying to scam me, but as all three coins appear to be fake, I now think that it is most likely he was aware that some or all of them were fake. I could have reduced my risk by purchasing only 1 coin and confirming that was legitimate first. One interesting thing about this particular flea market is that the sellers are regulars and the guy basically sells stuff in front of my apartment - the next time he will be there is April 4. While he didn't claim they were silver, he is selling fake bullion and I will be interested to see if he has more. I will also check the local laws and perhaps report his scam to those that operate the market. He purchases a spot from them. One question I have is that I noted a very small magnetic attraction with a magnet on a string on these coins, but no attraction at all on my pure silver coins. If a coin is 90% silver, like a Morgan, will it have zero magnetic attraction? To be clear, I am saying that then when I very slowly move a small magnet on a string towards these coins, it will be pulled towards the coin but the force is so weak that it is not until it is about 5mm away that it is noticeable. The attraction is not noticeable with my pure silver. So, my question is, if something is 90% silver and 10% copper, will it also have zero magnetic attraction? Lastly, would you guess these coins are alloys, or coated/plated with something? If they are likely coated with something I might cut them open to invetsigate.

I know what you mean about too good to be true. Maybe I have seen Antiques Roadsow and Pawnstars one too many times. He wanted about $18 for the Morgan, which didn't seem far from what a quick search told me market value was. I definitely thought there was a good chance that at least 1 of the coins was fake. I especially doubted the Russia one being real because although I had no idea what it was at the time, I expected something that old to be more valuable. I guess like many people, I was hoping I had found a bargain, and was counting on the seller being unwilling to do his research, but that is probably much rarer than the buyer being ripped off.

Thank you! Will attach directly in the future.

Thank you for your reply. I knew I was taking a risk but thought it was likely one or more might be real unless the seller was a conman, which I thought unlikely. Maybe none were real! I weighed the Morgan dollar and it seems to be the right weight. It was 26.7 grams and online search found 26.73 as the correct weight. I did note when I put a small super magnet on a string when it got within 2-3mm to the coin there was enough attraction to pull the magnet to the coin- is this normal? I know it doesn't happen with pure silver. I will check the specific gravity and post again. Thank you!

I found the exact 1752 coin. I can only see minor differences, so if the link is a real coin but mine is a fake, could you tell me what you can see so I get a bit of an education. https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=3411&lot=113 My coin weighs 2 grams less, which is a lot, but I note there is a lot missing from around the edge on my coin. Also, I just did a better magnet test with the three coins. None of them are strongly magnetic. The Morgan dollar and Russian coin both significantly slowed the fall of a magnet across their face, but less than a modern "pure" silver coin. The trade dollar did not seem to slow the movement of a magnet across it's face at all, so I now think the trade dollar is fake. Does that seem logical?

I paid 5000jpy, approximately $45USD, for these 3 coins at a street market in Tokyo that they hold a couple of times a month. I don't really know what they are, so my questions are so my main questions are: Are they real, what are they, what are they roughly worth. Of course, my main initial concern is of course are they real. I would normally not risk buying in a market but I figure the chance of being ripped off is less in Japan. The middle one, I am guessing, is a trade dollar? After getting it home, I did note that some parts, especially the edge have green tarnish/corrosion. I also see black on the rim, so there are black, green, and silver, but I don't see any other colors, like copper. I can take more photos and weigh coins if helpful. The American silver dollar looks fine to me based on the modern silver dollars I own that I bought from reputable retailers, but I don't really know. I looked up the O and it said that means it was minted in New Orleans. That is all I know. The last coin, I guess is Russian (or fake Russian?) After getting it home I note that it looks oddly black, and the black did rub off with my thumb, is this artificial aging or ligit? Another suspicious feature is that the lower part of the coin seems to have been worn off, or been cut off, but as there is clear Russian printing around the rim, it surely hasn't been worn down or cut. Maybe it wasn't centered correctly, but that would happen when coins were struct, not cast, and I would guess they were casting at that time? Magnet wasn't attracted to any of them. I didn't try magnet on a string to test for slight attraction. I think I read that somewhere. If a magnet isn't attracted is the most likely material copper when it isn't silver? Any tips for the future? I am wondering if I should get a guarantee from the seller in the future. Like, if it is proven not to be silver I can return it. In this particular market, the sellers are regulars and I think they may get their stuff from estate sales. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vy9hVKhUsYdNYwct7