schroedi55 Using Copied Sovereign Images on eBay
eBay seller schroedi55 of Neu-Isenburg, Germany, not only stole our 1974 George V Gold Sovereign image without permission, but failed to inform buyers that the coin pictured was not the same as he was selling. He also described his coin as in excellent condition, which it may or may not be.
Many coin owners and eBay sellers appear to delude themselves. We wonder who he is trying to fool?

Sample Listing

1974 George V Gold Full Sovereign
1 � Sovereign Elizabeth II GOLD 1974
Seit �ber 50 Jahren steht K�nigin Elizabeth II. an der Spitze von England. Wie alle Regenten vor ihr hat auch die amtierende K�nigin von England ihre eigene ganz spezielle offizielle Goldm�nze: Die englische Handelsm�nze Sovereign aus edlem Gold. Das besondere an dieser k�niglichen M�nze: der Nennwert betr�gt nur ein Pfund. Der Materialwert bel�uft sich jedoch auf ein Vielfaches! Daher z�hlen diese offiziellen Goldm�nzen zu den gefragtesten weltweit! / Auflage: unbekannt / Material: Gold / Gewicht: 7,99 g / Erstausgabejahr: 1957 / Durchmesser: 22 mm / Qualit�t: sehr sch�n / Nominal: Sovereign
Da Privatverkauf keine Garantie, R�cknahme oder Umtausch.

1 � Sovereign Elizabeth II GOLD 1974 For over 50 years, Queen Elizabeth II at the Tip of England. Like all rulers too has the reigning Queen of England their own very special official gold coin: The coin Sovereign English trade made of fine gold. What is special about this Royal Mint: the nominal value is only a pound. The material value amounts However, to a multiple! Therefore, these official gold coins of the world's most sought after! / Circulation: Unknown / Material: Gold / Weight: 7.99 g / First Year: 1957 / Diameter: 22 mm / quality: very sch�n / Nominal: Sovereign
Since private sale does not guarantee, redemption or exchange.

Seller ID	Item Number	Date	Description	Price
schroedi55	300337784978	18th Aug 2009	Goldm�nze Sovereign 1 Pfund England Elizabeth II 1974	€1

What's Wrong?
First it is dishonest to steal images. We select the best coins from thousands of sovereigns, then take high quality photographs of them, followed by extensive post production work (airbrushing) to make them look even better. This draws on our wealth of experience, education, training, trial and error. Our two graduate photographers work very hard to produce our high quality pictures. We have invested thousands of pounds in equipment and software. When some dishonest eBay vendor thinks it is acceptable to use them without our permission, we get more than a little annoyed. If we were a family business from Sicily, we would send one of the boys round to talk to them. If we were in Northern Ireland, we could set the Intellectual Rights Association onto them. As things stand, we simply report them to eBay, who usually get round to removing the copyright infringements. We also request full contact details of the eBay member so that we can take legal action against them, or send them a warning.

Deception
Not only does it infringe our rights, it is an attempt to deceive any and all potential buyers. This is fraud, which is a criminal offence.
We thoroughly recommend any potential eBay buyers to avoid dealing with this crooked member.

Price
The seller was asking a starting price of €1 for his coin.
He may have been better off selling the coin direct to us. We bet he will not offer us a 10% commission for the use of our photograph!
Selling Gold Sovereigns & Other Coins on eBay
We point out that sellers may often get more money, for less effort, by selling to a specialised dealer, such as us, rather than via eBay.

High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 470; with 100% positive according to eBay, which all goes to show that you cannot rely on the eBay feedback system as any indication of the honesty or integrity of the member.

Copyright Notice
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