Tag Archives: Sheena Wallace

What To Do If You Buy a Fake Coin Online

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What should you do if you purchase a fake coin on Proxibid or eBay and discover it when your options have run out–a few months, or even years, after the sale? What if you buy a counterfeit in a private coin dealer auction online? Or an Internet estate auction?

Portals like Proxibid and eBay have service terms that prevent the selling of fakes. Yet, you can spot dozens on eBay, especially California Gold. You can read about that in Coin World.

In fact, some bloggers routinely post about fakes being sold on eBay. Check out this one.

We buy on Proxibid as well as eBay. Some Proxibid sellers announce that all of their lots are genuine. Here’s an example:

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We especially like “Auctions by Wallace” (screen shot above) because its owner Sheena Wallace understands that all lots must be authentic and that Proxibid’s Unified User Agreement forbids fake coins on the block.

Unfortunately, Auctions by Wallace is the exception on Proxibid. Too many auctioneers on Proxibid and Internet estate and coin sales warn bidders “All Sales Final–No Warranties” in their service terms. When it comes to Proxibid, these auctioneers and their attorneys might read clause 5.16. of Proxibid’s Unified User Agreement:

“If, within a reasonable amount of time, Buyer gives notice in writing to Seller that the lot so sold is a counterfeit and after such notice the Buyer returns the lot to Seller in the same condition as when sold, and establishes to the satisfaction of Seller that the returned lot is in fact a counterfeit, Seller as agent for the consignor will rescind the sale and refund the purchase price.”

Sheena Wallace guarantees her lots are genuine not because of the above clause but because it is the ethical auctioneering thing to do.

Many Proxibid auctioneers (as well as eBay mega-sellers and auction houses) are members of the National Auctioneers Association. Before they post service terms, they might want to read their Ethics Code, particularly this. …

For the rest of the article, click here.

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New Rankings; 18-Month Views Exceed 40,000 Worldwide!

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Proxiblog’s Coin and Currency category added one new auction in the past month, EBW Coins, which features good photography, numismatic lot descriptions and zero percent buyer’s premium (with Greysheet opening bids, however). The big news is that Proxiblog’s audience continues to grow with more than 40,000 views in the past 18 months, raising total views to 55,000 since its inception three years ago.


Weaver Signature Coin and Currency Auction continues to hold the top spot again this month. The duo of Dave and Cheryl Weaver are doing everything right. Lot descriptions are accurate. Photos expandable. Shipping and customer service just fine.

Our other trusty stand-bys continue to excite us every time they schedule an auction: Capitol Coin Auction, SilverTowne, Leonard Auction, Meares Auction, and Fox Valley Coins.

The big news in our ratings concerns Back to the Past Collectibles and Star Coin and Currency. C. Scott Lovejoy and Jim Haver, respectively, continue to improve consignments, elevating their rankings. Back to the Past, in particular, with its 10% buyer’s fee will challenge any top house in our rankings with more and rarer consignments.

Leonard, Capitol, Meares and Fox Valley all boast great photos, consignments, service and descriptions.

Other houses to watch are A New Day Auction and Auctions by Wallace. Like Lovejoy and Haver, Kendra Stevens of A New Day and Sheena Wallace are continuously improving their events. Now they need top consignments.

Our advice to them is to place a classified ad in local newspapers seeking consignments or offering to buy collections. You’ll be surprised at how far that last recommendation goes, especially when estates are transferred.

Consignments typically are key to our rankings. Any house scoring 24.5 points practices and/or exceeds our Honor Roll standards.

Also keep in mind that our favorite houses are just that–ours. Your experience may differ from ours.

As for Proxiblog, we keep growing. We are in the process of upgrading our site (we hope you like the cleaner look). As the map below shows, we are reaching more viewers in Canada, England and India. Once again, the most accessed post was California Gold, real, replica and fake. That post averages between 400+ views per month.

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We continue to provide best practices and numismatic knowledge to our viewers for free. Please consider making a donation. We are on hiatus at the moment but post every weekday during September-June. We do this for educational purposes, informing viewers about numismatics as well as funding scholarships for Iowa State University students.

Fortunately, we have several of our top houses donating funds to our scholarship account. You can also buy our new work, Online Coin Auctioneering or Basic Coin Design on Kindle. We are extremely grateful. Won’t you consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Iowa State Foundation so that we can continue publishing? Thank you for your consideration!

Proxiblog is an independent entity with no connection to the auction portal Proxibid. Our intent is to uphold basic numismatic standards as established by the American Numismatic Association and the National Auctioneer Association and to ensure a pleasurable bidding experience not only on Proxibid but also on similar portals such as iCollector and AuctionZip.


Should Proxibid Add a Coin Category?

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As Proxiblog is supportive of but independent from Proxibid, we do not know what is feasible for the Internet portal; however, numismatically speaking, we feel it’s time for a “Coins and Currency” category similar to that of eBay. (Click picture above to see how that might look!)

Online coin auctions have grown phenomenally in the past five years as local coin shops have either closed or migrated online. In fact, many Proxibid auctioneers aren’t really auctioneers in the traditional sense. They don’t earn licenses to handle real estate, classic cars, livestock and the like; they operate from their homes with a computer and blog or website software.

A typical article, “Start A Coin Dealer Business Online,” notes that traditional coin dealers work from stores. “With an internet connection and your own website, you can build an online business buying and selling coins at a fraction of the cost.”

As the article states, many online auctioneers begin as coin collectors who buy regularly from Proxibid, eBay, coin shows and estate auctions and are knowledgeable about numismatics, giving them a leg-up on competition, including real auctioneers who only occasionally sell coins. Many of these migrate to portals like Proxibid whose technology expands clientele and whose customer service excels, adding value based on reasonable fees.

Proxiblog has been patronizing Proxibid for three years. During that time, the coin business on the portal has exploded with new numismatic business. Just a few weeks ago, when Proxiblog launched, we counted only 11 auctions that met our standards. Now 37 have.

How would a separate category help auctioneers selling coins regularly on Proxibid? Here’s an example.

Yesterday on this blog we received a comment from Sheena Wallace of Auctions by Wallace: “One of our buyers pointed us to your blog. We have been using your best practices prior to even knowing about your blog. We would like to be considered for your blog.”

We’re proud to endorse what Sheena Wallace states, as Auctions by Wallace now is one of our Honor Roll auction houses meeting high numismatic standards.

But the point is, despite an excellent and improved Proxibid search function, Auctions by Wallace had to find us, even though we canvas portals daily. How many other coin auctions not included in Proxibid email alerts and newsletters are being missed by collectors? A “Coins and Currency” category, if feasible, would eliminate that situation, spur competition, accommodate growth and benefit bidders, consignors and Proxibid.

If you feel as we do, and support of a “Coins and Currency” category, why not mention that to your Proxibid representative … or leave a comment here?

Proxiblog is an independent entity with no connection to the auction portal Proxibid. Our intent is to uphold basic numismatic standards as established by the American Numismatic Association and the National Auctioneer Association and to ensure a pleasurable bidding experience not only on Proxibid but also on similar portals such as iCollector and AuctionZip.