Forum HostThey are coming from a auction company called Rare Treasures that sell fake ****, CW and germany stuff and have been called out many times to the various online auction houses but the let them keep selling fake stuff.
Forum Host
The shop owners ar buy them from rare treasures and putting them in their shops.
That seller is a complete con artist, you can produce just about anything with a computer, cotton paper and some coffee grounds. Not too long ago, as a joke, I took a fountain pen, brown ink diluted with water and some blank newspaper, created a letter, that in the beginning looked like an incredible railroad missive. I took it and folded about a hundred times, then smeared it in coffee grounds, it looked like the real thing! I handed it to Dan Toomey, one of the foremost authorities, on the B&O RR during the ACW. He got very excited about the treasure in his hands, looking up at me, before finishing it and asked where I got it, I replied, "keep reading". Towards the end of the letter, I had written how my ancestors had kicked his Yankee ancestors butts.....I won't repeat his tirade here......
also named secondhandcollectibles on ebay
And thus the protection they think they get since they can claim that they bought these (from Rare Treasures) in good faith. Once they are notified in writing that these are fakes, sell on Ebay and send across state lines it becomes mail fraud. Ebay has resisted doing anything about this, but I think if enough people complain to the FBI they might take the same action they did with the fake watches.Here is one that rare treasures has in there upcoming auction. Look familiar
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There used to be a watchdog group of Civil War collectors and dealers who regularly scanned EBay for fakes, counterfeits and Mis-described CW items. They did catch a lot of material but my understanding was that eventually EBay tired of them and just started ignoring their input. Today EBay is about as bad as I ever saw it. Particularly troublesome are a small group of individuals that specialize in selling real artifacts that have been doctored or embellished with fake provenance (I.e. Gettysburg painted/inked id's). Luckily much of their handiwork is fairly easy to differentiate from original museum markings but they have flooded the market and fooled a lot of collectors. Some of their "Gettysburg" relics have patinas that are dead giveaways that they were dug somewhere else but if you are not familiar with Gettysburg soils, you would never recognize that.
I have to say something about the FBI. I don't want to knock them but fraudulent CW relics being sold for a few bucks on EBay are a pretty low priority for them. Earlier this year I was involved in getting a CW Medal of Honor removed from an auction (it is against Federal law to buy sell or own a Medal of Honor with only two exceptions, selling or buying one is always against the law). In my communications with a major Medal of Honor organization, I was told that the FBI would be a little help since this was a very low priority issue for them. Luckily the auction house and consignor did the right thing and hopefully the Medal will eventually end up in the Medal of Honor museum (who by a Congressional authorization legally can accept and retain these medals).
Many years ago a Dealer at a show had one of the MOH issued to the Regiment that guarded Washington DC during the ACW. Going on memory they were later revoked as I remember the story if correct.
Unfortunately, the seller in question is selling bogus Southern headgear for quite a bit of change, certainly more than some of the fake watches the FBI got involved with. My fear is having an individual who could determine the validity of the piece and having the FBI trust them. The seller currently has over $10,000 in bids for his items, one a "Confederate" cap that actually may be an original CV but is selling it as a Texas Civil War vintage piece currently at $3,690. The manufacturer was not making militaria during the Civil War, though they were in business as a grocer and ships chandler during that time. Over the course of the year, he rakes in over $100,000.
US Postal Inspectors are probably the right people to investigate cases of fraud involving use of the US mail.
I saw that hat it was for sale on Etsy.com as a veterans piece and priced accordingly. It was actually a pretty good deal but I guess he saw an opportunity in it
Bringing the