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Beware of Counterfeit GoT coins from China


Master of Coin

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I suppose that it is a mark of success that some of my coins are now being counterfeited in China and marketed on eBay and presumably elsewhere... but I wanted to warn people about them. I know of two different unlicensed counterfeits of the Iron Coin of the Faceless Man. The first is based on my earlier die#1 version, but larger, made of copper, and with the "H" added to the reverse inscription and a much cruder rendition of the hooded figure on reverse. The second is much more sophisticated... done in about the correct size and based on my recent die#2, but with a collared rim... un-enciphered reverse symbol, no made of iron, drilled at bottom, and with no ghostly image within the obverse cowl. They are using a photo of my real coin in their header... but then substituting photos of their counterfeit in the description. Here's a link to one on eBay.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321208044385&


The more people that report this infringement, the more chance that eBay will respond to remove the offending item. Remember that George gets nothing from any of these, but under my license he gets a share of everything I make. It constitutes an insult to George himself to purchase or tolerate counterfeit merchandise. Plus... frankly... excuse my Saxon usage, but they're total crap!


Tom Maringer, Shire Post Mint.


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  • 2 weeks later...

By the way, aside from the Faceless Man coins it looks like there are a lot of other bogus GoT and other popular-culture items being made in China and either sold from there or sold via small eBay distributors here in the US or in UK.



Aside from the very low quality of the work, if you are a genuine fan of GRRM, you will not purchase from those sources simply out of respect for George and the fact that every one of those counterfeit sales is a ripoff against him.



I'm trying not to be culturally biased here... but the problem of intellectual property rights being respected by that country seems to be rampant and problemmatic, and goes way beyond the simple product issues brought up here. I have Chicom manufacturers approaching me weekly seeking to produce my goods for me, and I routinely reject any and all such proposals based simply on their location in a country that has a track-record of disrespect for intellectual property, regardless of quality or price.


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Hi Martha:


Thanks for the kind words. It would be more worrisome if the quality of the knockoff goods was actually high... but the stuff is just absolute crap. My Iron Coin of the Faceless Man is really made of iron. You can pick it up with a magnet, and because it is a special high purity iron, you cannot make it become a magnet (as you might be able to with steel). But the chicom imports are not even steel... they are some zinc-based pot-metal alloy with a copper wash on them. They also failed to replicate some of the more subtle design features, such as the shadowy face below the cowl and the encipherment of the symbol on reverse. So I'm less worried about them than I would be if they were actually quite good. My response is to offer authorized dealerships of the real-thing to resellers in the West who will swear off selling counterfeits, and to continually update the die-types so as to stay ahead of the counterfeiters.




All hail unto King George. Death to counterfeiters!


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  • 5 weeks later...

Just spotted a couple new sellers of counterfeit coins. Here's one on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Song-Thrones-Faceless-Valar-Morghulis/dp/B00GCD31ZU/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=AWZWDADXJOE58 that is actually using my photo... but shipping the crap chicom knockoff. It's almost unbelievable what some people will do. Here's one on Etsy (which is supposed to be only for handmade stuff.) Again it's the knockoff... advertised as 100% metal. ooooh! http://www.etsy.com/listing/170096504/jaqen-hghar-coin-valar-morghulis-valar?ref=market



Be forewarned! Tom



ps... I should also mention another one that IS authorized... http://www.etsy.com/listing/160146081/holiday-sale-faceless-man-coin-pendant this person purchases coins from me in bulk and then adds wire-wrapping to create a value-added product that is made using genuine licensed parts. This kind of activity is strongly encouraged!


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  • 5 months later...

I've managed to track the makers of the counterfeit coins as far as the website aliexpress... where over SIXTY different sellers are hawking counterfeits of my Shire Post GoT coins. Many of them are using actual photos of my coins to sell the fakes. I have spent a lot of time sending emails to each one telling them of the licensing situation and asking them to withdraw their sales. A few complied. The rest don't give a damn. Apparently Chinese law permits the making and selling of counterfeits of all kinds. They are also making counterfeits of real-world coins such as the Canadian silver maple leaves (20 for $45) and even the New Zealand LOTR comemmoratives featuring the One Ring. They are openly selling them and advertising shipping to the US, even though under US law they are illegal to sell. You can find counterfeits of British Sovereigns, and US silver dollars, as well as countless examples of rare or obscure foreign coins that I would never have imagined would be subject to counterfeit attempts.



Among other counterfeits are the GoT "Hand of the King" cloak pin, the LOTR One Ring, Arwen's pendant, and the list goes on and on and on ad infinitum.



Again, I wish to express my thanks to those of this community who have supported George's licensees and have resisted the urge to purchase the Chinese crap knockoffs. Salut!



Tom Maringer


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Hey Tom, no need to report ebay auctions, use their VERO program.

http://pages.ebay.com/vero/notice.html

It is rare I do not get an auction removed within 48 hours.

Amazon, Etsy, and other large marketplaces have reporting procedures as well.

If the seller is hosting from a US based website, you can use DMCA notices sent to their hosting provider.

If they're not, you can still make sure their website is not found in Google https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905?hl=en and if they accept paypal (and I'm sure other payment service providers) you can attack them from that angle: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/infringementrpt-full

Not a thing you can do about Alibaba. They technically have a complaint system, but good luck with that.

It is more difficult, and not guaranteed to work, but if you can provide documentation of intellectual property (such as a registered copyright) you can get US Customs to keep an eye out for fakes. http://www.cbp.gov/trade/priority-issues/ipr Considering the volume of containers at our ports you'd have to be lucky I think for the system to help you, but nothing would discourage the importation of infringing merchandise more than having a whole container load be confiscated and destroyed.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Valyrian Steel:


Thanks for the encouragement! I have now gotten online with the eBay VeRo program and that is helping a lot. Etsy is doing a pretty good job. I will look into the US customs idea. Your other suggestions were things that had not occurred to me. It's a different world out there than it used to be. Over the last 35 years we've gone from a one-man knifemaker shop banging out one-of custom knives and swords to a five-person fantasy-coin mint, with occasional mintages exceeding ten thousand pieces. We used to do magazine ads and knife shows. Now we do internet and toy/fair or fantasy/sci-fi con shows. The only thing that's stayed the same is that metal still moves the same way it ever did! The craft is still the craft, but fewer and fewer young folk are following the trades.


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