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When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 238 with 100% positive according to eBay.

eBay Copyright Thieves
Many eBay vendors use our coin photographs to sell inferior quality coins on eBay. These eBay members are dishonest and should be avoided.
We believe eBay profits from IP rights infringements (copyright theft), and does so knowingly, only removing infringing items reluctantly, if at all.

Sample Listing

1997 GOLD PROOF CROWN BOXED SEALED ROYAL MINT FIVE £5
Sealed as delivered from the royal mint. This is a rare opportunity to own a 1997 Golden Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip, gold proof crown. As pictured the certificate is enclosed.
Crowns & Gold Five Pounds
There is a historical difference between gold crowns and gold five pound coins. Crowns were originally five shillings pieces worth a quarter of a pound, and five pound coins were, as their name tells, worth five pounds face value. The first British crowns were gold coins issued in 1544, and the first silver crowns were issued in 1551. It was not until 1990 that the Royal Mint retariffed the crown, which was by then a silvery coloured cupro-nickel coin, from five shillings to five pounds.
Commemorative Five Pounds Crown
During the last half century, crowns have often been issued to commemorate special events. The 1997 Five Pound piece is a crown sized coin, struck in three different metals and a total of five different variations. It marks the occasion of the 50th wedding anniversary of H. M. Queen Elizabeth II and H.R.H. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Golden Wedding
A golden wedding anniversary deserves celebration, and the 1997 crown pays tribute to this remarkable couple, who are represented on both sides of the coin. Philip Nathan has depicted the Queen and Prince Philip in magnificent profile portraits that are both dignified and reflective. For many collectors these effigies will be reminiscent of the coins of William and Mary, and of the medals of Victoria and The Prince Consort.
Obverse:
Conjoined heads of Elizabeth and Philip, facing right.
The obverse design was engraved by Philip Nathan
ELIZABETH II D G REG F D PHILIP PRINCEPS
Reverse:
The reverse features the crown of St. Edward above shields bearing the Royal Arms and the Coat of Arms of Prince Philip, separated by an anchor. The crown represents the Queen's formal role, being worn by her on state occasions, and the anchor symbolises Prince Philip's distinguished naval career.
The reverse was designed by Leslie Durbin, and modelled by Philip Nathan.
The reverse legend reads:
1947 1997 20 NOVEMBER FIVE POUNDS
Edge
The edge is milled (reeded)
Specifications
Denomination
Five Pounds £5
Alloy
22 Carat Gold
Diameter
38.61mm.
Weight
39.94 grams
Issue Limit
2,750
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Seller ID	Item Number	Date	Description	Price
bob63307356	140353269973	18th Oct 2009	1997 GOLD PROOF CROWN BOXED SEALED ROYAL MINT FIVE £5	£0.01

What's Wrong?
We invest a great deal of time, effort, and cost into creating some of the best photographic coin images on the internet. We strongly object when lazy and dishonest people decide to use them without a by your leave or thanks, doing so in competition with us.
Copyright theft is dishonest. We recommend you avoid doing business with dishonest dealers.
This particular eBay seller not only stole our images of a 1997 Royal Wedding Gold Proof £5 Crown, he used it to sell his own coin on eBay. He did not mention to potential buyers that the high quality photographs of a mint condition coin were not his own photographs.
It's possible he is ignorant of such fine points, or just plain ignorant.

It is always possible, even likely, that sellers who steal photographs do not own a similar coin, and have the intention to totally defraud potential buyers.
The vendor is not only cheating us by stealing our copyright images, he is fraudulently or ignorantly misleading and deceiving all potential buyers. Gaining pecuniary advantage by deception is the definition of fraud.

Doubly Dishonest
bob63307356 also stole our photographs of a 1996 Gold Proof Sovereign, and we have given him a free advert on our Gold Sovereigns website.

Price
The seller was asking a starting price of £0.01
He would probably get more by selling to us when eBay's new 10% selling fees are taken into account, even ignoring PayPal fees.

eBay Guilty of Negligence or Complicity
We will be reporting this example of copyright abuse using our standard Statutory Declaration via the eBay VeRO programme, and wait to see if they chose to action or ignore our report. We look forward to taking legal action against eBay for their negligence and / or complicity if they fail to take down the offending material promptly.

Copyright Notice
Please see our "Copyright" page for further information.

Buying Gold Coins & Bars on eBay

Selling Gold Coins & Bars on eBay

Copyright Thieves on eBay
We already have a page naming and shaming dealers using our images without permission. It's time we did the same for eBay, although if we include them all, this could be a very long page.

Alphabetical Listing of Other Copyright Theft Sites

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Other Web Sites
All comments about copyright also cover content of all our other websites including, but not limited to:-

• Chards
  www.chards.co.uk
• Investment Gold Bars & Coins (This Site)
  taxfreegold.co.uk
• General Coins & Jewellery:
  www.24carat.co.uk
• 1997 Royal Wedding Gold Proof £5 Crown Obverse:
  goldsovereigns.co.uk
• 18 Carat Gold Jewellery:
  www.18carat.co.uk
• 9 Carat Gold Jewellery:
  www.9carat.co.uk