As ebayers may have noticed, all (or almost all) replica coins (Greek, Roman, Medieval, Viking, Tudor ...) have gone. Only because some fraudulent ebay sellers have offered replica coins as originals (at a ridiculous price) or have offered cheap import products without clear markings of the products being replica, ebay claims that the Bank of England has urged its site to stop selling replica coins at all.
The move was already indicated by the creation, a few months ago, of a special area of "novelties" within the coins section of ebay. Yet, this does seem to have done the job. Hence, the move to totally ban replica coins from ebay.
This is, of course, a big blow against those customers who have enjoyed a reliable service of those who offered clearly signed and marked replica coins. It is a special blow to the educational sector where pupils in primary and secondary schools, but also students in universities and those attending workshops in museums where introduced into understanding, handling and reading coins of the Greek, Roman or later periods. It is always a wonderful experience to let students not only see or here about coins, but also let them touch and explore what such physical material can tell us about the past. Of course, it is hardly possible to use original material, but ebay offered a fantastic platform where to purchase for relatively little money objects that one could use even in bigger sized classes.
So, where to go now? Fortunately, amazon still sells replica, and we hope that the Bank of England is not going to stop this platform as well. But then, there are also other platforms that specialize in replica from arts and antiquity. And hopefully, they carry on to providing the educational sector, museums and collectors with high quality products at replica prices.
