truemercian in eBay Copyright Theft
truemercian of West Midlands, United Kingdom, stole our 2008 Quarter Ounce Gold Proof Britannia pbverse & reverse images without permission, and failed to tell buyers it was not the same coin he was selling.

High eBay Feedback is No Guarantee of Integrity or Honesty
When we wrote this page, this eBay member's feedback was 155 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

Proof 2008 Gold Britannia Coin (1/4 ounce)
10% - of the final sale price will support Help for Heroes: Support for our Wounded - Small deduction may apply.
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About this charity:
Since 2007 Help for Heroes have worked to raise money for heroes wounded in conflict. This year Help for Heroes is aiming to raise 20 million for a network of 7 Recovery Centres where those injured can start new lives retraining for new jobs in the forces or civilian life. Show them your support by buying and selling on eBay.
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Item specifics - Coins: British: Proofs
Year of Issue: 2008 Number of Pieces: 1
Collections/ Bulk Lots: -- Condition: New
Item specifics - Bullion & Bars
Type: Coins Certification: Certified
Metal: Gold Condition: New
Origin: Britain
Britannia - Warrior Princess
A gift of gold is the ultimate prize and a gold coin, excellently struck, one that will be treasured forever. This fabulous coin, a limited edition and housed in a deluxe display case, would make the perfect present.
Minted in 22 carat yellow gold – a brilliant colour achieved by adding a small amount of silver to the alloy – to impeccable quality, the coin comes in a handsome presentation case complete with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity guaranteeing its specifications and provenance.
With a denomination of £25, it contains a quarter-ounce of fine gold and features the new portrait of Britannia created especially for the 2008 Britannia family.
Britannia has symbolised Britain since Roman times and appeared on the coins of three Roman emperors. The first English coins to bear the figure of Britannia were the copper halfpennies and farthings authorised by Charles II in 1672 and, always reflecting the changing status of the island nation as well as her ancient origins, she has never been absent from the coinage since. Her elevation to the gold coinage came in 1987 and today, she adorns the highest value coins of the realm.
A beautiful new portrait of Britannia has been created for the Britannia coins of 2008. The portrait remains true to her character depicting her as an elegant yet commanding figure standing watch on the windswept shore. It is the work of John Bergdahl who wanted 'to convey a sense of Britannia being at one with the sea and to make her seem elemental. I also wanted to incorporate traditional motifs which have long been associated with Britannia in coin designs. Britannia here is shown to be maiden-like and innocent while at the same time being a warrior princess'.
Coin specifications
Denomination: £25
Alloy: 0.9167 Au
Weight: 8.51g
Diameter: 22.00mm
Obverse Designer: Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS
Reverse Designer: John Bergdahl
Minimum Fine Gold Content: 1/4 oz
Quality: Proof
Product Issue Limit: 1,000 worldwide
New (2010) coins of this type from the Royal Mint cost £340 each plus postage. Items will be posted 1 day after funds have cleared.
This is a private listing and your identity will not be disclosed to anyone except the seller.

Seller ID	Item Number	Date	Description	Price
truemercian	330438416822	31st May 2010	Proof 2008 Gold Britannia Coin (1/4 ounce)	£300

What's Wrong?
We invest a great deal of time, effort, and cost into creating some of the best photographic coin and gold bar 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.
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.

Price
The seller was asking a starting price of £300 for this listing.
Whatever the item "sells" for, after eBay's greedy 10% selling fees, and possible PayPal charges, the crook may have been much better off selling the coins to us, instead of stealing our photographs.

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.
We should probably delay reporting this item until a buyer has sent some money. This may sound cynical of us, but if enough greedy buyers got conned, they might kick up enough fuss, go to the media, and get eBay the publicity it deserves. It is not our job to act as unpaid policemen for eBay.

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