Challenge Coin Copyright
Posted on April 3, 2009
Filed Under Coin News
It’s been a while since a post has been made and I think now is a good enough time then ever to tackle a subject that is often avoided within the industry. Challenge coins are pieces of art and a real product even if they don’t boast a company’s name. So often when we buy or sell you don’t know the origin or any information about a coin. This article is triggered from an experience that fits this that happened a few days ago.
In many cases I personally sell coins I buy in bulk, lots, or coins I come across. With the thousands I buy it is near impossible for me to know anything about them and I suspect most of you would agree. I had a SMA Preston Challenge Coin that I bought probably 6 months ago or more laying around. So I placed it on eBay so I could move some inventory. Within a couple days I received a message from NWTM that I was selling an illegal copy of a coin they made. This is fair and I would do the same if the tables were turned. I simply removed the coin and pressed on.
The next step is proving it is an illegal copy and find out more about this. One simple coin won’t make me do all the leg work but knowing that this happened we all should learn about this topic. I don’t have an authentic copy or picture of the coin so I no comparison and as it sits I have no proof I have a bad coin. This happens to many of us I am quite sure as there are thousands of coins on today’s market. I personally have about 100,000 coins in my inventory (duplicates included). So the next question is where can I go to find out if there is a such thing as an authentic or a fake of a coin if I needed a quick answer?
The Challenge Coin Database is the simplest answer for these kinds of doubts, or accusations. I went ahead and listed the fake Preston coin to help people in the future identify what it is. I want to bring information to the hobby and making a quick $20 on a coin is nothing when legitimatecy is in question. So maybe someone can confirm this by adding the real one to the database. Now this might seem it’s all about this coin and really it’s not but I needed an example and this was the perfect example of copyright. All coins should make their way to the database to prevent these types of mistakes. Everyone should be able to take a stroll through and find the information they need and I strongly encourage people to do just that.
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