Buying North Korea Coins from Aliexpress.com

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I'm interested in purchasing these coins, however, looking at the price, I was just wondering if anyone thinks maybe these are fake?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/25MM-Korea-Sangpyeong-Tongbo-Mun-1633-1678-Coin-C8/32819957438.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.1.46a52a2c7WQNFA&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_2_10152_10065_10709_10151_10344_10068_10130_5722815_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10546_10340_10341_10548_5722915_10545_10697_5722615_10696_10084_10083_10618_10307_10710_5722715_5711215_10059_308_100031_10103_441_10624_10623_10622_5711315_5722515_10621_10620,searchweb201603_19,ppcSwitch_7&algo_expid=2fcd5e67-665a-4d7e-a0b5-ff57547d9421-0&algo_pvid=2fcd5e67-665a-4d7e-a0b5-ff57547d9421&transAbTest=ae803_1&priceBeautifyAB=0
Due to my current schedule of full-time school and full-time job, swaps may take some time to complete. Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.

I am currently only trading in the US.
While AliExpress is known for selling fakes of many coins with numismatic value, these coins seem to be real, since they're worth so little it's not worth the effort to fake anyway.
Where are you buying your north Korea coins from, Cass?
Quote: "jimpop"​Where are you buying your north Korea coins from, Cass?
​I have a 2002 set I got in a museum while on a trip to Hong Kong; the rest of the ones I have are picked out from junk bins in the UK or France. They're (relatively) harder to come across in the Europe, but it happens often enough.

I heard somewhere that the United States technically prohibits North Korean items, including numismatic and philatelic items from being shipped into the US. Sounds like a load of hot air, but if anyone could confirm or deny it that would be great.
I bought a North Korea coin and used pay pal. Pay pal locked my account. Took a lot of work to get it unlocked.
Buying anything from or related to North Korea is prohibited in the USA.
I bought a North Korean coin at local coin swap market/show. Guess I am lucky that one slipped by.
Quote: "ken6528"​I bought a North Korea coin and used pay pal. Pay pal locked my account. Took a lot of work to get it unlocked.
​Buying anything from or related to North Korea is prohibited in the USA.
​Ouch, that sounds harsh :( I didn't actually expect that to be true..... Did you have to cancel your purchase?

@JRo69 I'm not sure if the prohibition is for buying or importing (or both) North Korean things in the US, but I guess some do slip in.
Quote: "CassTaylor"
Quote: "ken6528"​I bought a North Korea coin and used pay pal. Pay pal locked my account. Took a lot of work to get it unlocked.
​​Buying anything from or related to North Korea is prohibited in the USA.
​​Ouch, that sounds harsh :( I didn't actually expect that to be true..... Did you have to cancel your purchase?

​@JRo69 I'm not sure if the prohibition is for buying or importing (or both) North Korean things in the US, but I guess some do slip in.
​Believe me when it comes to items from countries they have embargoes against, it is not hot air. They will shut down accounts if you try to buy those items and you aren't able to sell them either. On the US Ebay, you will find Cuban coins but they are hidden under different names. I tried to sell one once and it was immediately removed.
sorry but why use paypal in the first place?
Main Referee for Hutt-River
Either Cuba or North Korea will get you in hot water, plus several other regimes, private corporations and even individuals. Some years ago, shortly after 9-11 actually, I did some contract work for GE on the subject and the list supplied by the government was over 500 pages long. It's just not realistic to expect the ordinary citizen to carry around an awareness of every single thing the State Dept. disapproves of. I don't think either eBay or PayPal know either. It's just an opportunistic money grab.

I do however know with some certainty that they have a list of hot words which are compared to anything written in the comments field on the transaction. Among them are Cuba and North Korea. So either buying or selling, typing those words into the notes will trigger an automated ban against which there is no reasonable way to appeal. As they get your money there isn't much incentive for them to be reasonable now is there?

At the risk of sounding paranoid to the green and innocent, whenever you are dealing with the government or anything regulated by the government, don't answer any questions you haven't been asked. There's no requirement to fill in the "notes" part of the PayPal transaction so why, why, why, would you write "For Cuba Coins" in it?

In the words of the politically savvy Uncle Remus, "Lie still an' say nuffin'".

None of this of course applies to Aliexpress customers. I'd actually encourage you to include a comment about Iranian missile parts along with the coins. Bless your little hearts.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Hehe! The flower on the 50 Chon is called "Kim Jong Il Flower" and the flower on the 1 Won coin is called "Kim Il Song Flower". :D:D
Coin referee for: AZE, FRO, GRL, US-HI, KOR, KGZ, MLI, MHL, MMR, PRK, UZB, SML, TAT, TWN, TJK
Banknote referee for: AGO, AZE, BLR, ECS, GEO, HTI, KAZ, KGZ, KOR, MNG, MRT, PMR, PRK, ROK, SWE, TJK, TKM, TUR, UZB, WSM, ZWE
I have another question for any American members; regarding Cuban coins being banned there, does this apply to coins from before 1959 (when Castro took power)? Or is it a ban on all Cuban coins, starting from the first issues in 1915?
Quote: "CassTaylor"​I have another question for any American members; regarding Cuban coins being banned there, does this apply to coins from before 1959 (when Castro took power)? Or is it a ban on all Cuban coins, starting from the first issues in 1915?
I think the ban on pre-1959 Cuban coins is an eBay thing. APMEX openly sells Cuban gold coins (1916 5 and 10 peso, for example). Normally I write a check to APMEX, to avoid the credit card markup, and the bank has no idea what the check is for.

Certain US dealers on vcoins also openly sell Cuban coins, like the 1933 star peso. These should be paid for by credit card, not PayPal.
Quote: "phfoticus"Normally I write a check to APMEX, to avoid the credit card markup, and the bank has no idea what the check is for.

​this is so funny! so actually still uses checks? we haven't used checks since the 60's here..i thought they were long gone :D
Coin referee for: AZE, FRO, GRL, US-HI, KOR, KGZ, MLI, MHL, MMR, PRK, UZB, SML, TAT, TWN, TJK
Banknote referee for: AGO, AZE, BLR, ECS, GEO, HTI, KAZ, KGZ, KOR, MNG, MRT, PMR, PRK, ROK, SWE, TJK, TKM, TUR, UZB, WSM, ZWE
Quote: "ngdawa"
Quote: "phfoticus"Normally I write a check to APMEX, to avoid the credit card markup, and the bank has no idea what the check is for.

​​this is so funny! so actually still uses checks? we haven't used checks since the 60's here..i thought they were long gone :D

The alternative is a wire transfer to the APMEX account -- the bank charges quite a bit for these. I've only ever done one wire transfer (not to APMEX), and it took about 1 hour. Most of that time I was just sitting in the branch manager's office, since they were having troubles in the "wire room". They also had to get two bank officer signatures, etc.
@phfoticus
Thanks for confirming that, are pre-1959 Cuban numismatic coins available in US coin shows/dealers? I understand if it's primarily an Ebay regulatory thing but I'd think that US authorities might not care about all the (potentially) millions of pre-Castro Cuban coins already in the USA.

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