I became aware of these forgeries after I won an auction on eBay (Item #3911508614 Chinese Seller cliff*) on the 1st May 2004. The coin was being sold as "unknown" and had a dot after MAIOR, which was a variety I had not seen before. On the day the auction ended I left for a month’s visit to Malta, so I didn't see the coin until I returned in June. I became concerned after I weighed the coin and saw that it was only 25.2gm. This is about 4 gm lighter than the average Pinto 30 Tari (30 Tari range between 28.2gm to 29.7gm with an average of 29.1gm).
My suspicions were confirmed when a similar coin was auctioned in August that year.
The following coins I believe are cast forgeries made in China. As you can see there are certain marks that I have marked with red arrows on the first two coins that are the same on all these coins and indicates that all these coins come from the same die, or should I say, the same mould. Most are being sold by Chinese eBay'er and most are sold at Private auctions. Two Sellers have even used the same picture.

Special things to look for beside the weight of the coin.

                   (1) The O in NON is broken,
                   (2) The A in MAIOR is also Broken.
                   (3) There is a large dint on rim under T.XXX.
                   (4) Small dints under Baptist extended arm and
                   (5) small marks in low LH section of coat of arms.
These small dints and marks are visible to different degrees on each of the photos and I'm sure that the sellers are trying to make each one look different.

Please help stop these Fakes by reporting them to eBay. To do this go to http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/replica-counterfeit.html

EBay Information

Actual photo used in eBay listing

Seller - cliff*

Location - China

Buyer - Private (Me)

Price paid - US$153.28

Date - 1st May 2004

Weight : 25.20gm

Seller - buyoldcoins -
(No longer a registered user)

Location - China

Buyer - Private

Price paid - US$127.50

Date - 15th August 2004

Seller - egli2

Location - Germany

Buyer - Private (cettina)

Price Paid - US$155.00

Date - 17th October 2004

Sellere - lr_2000

Location - China

Buyer - Private

Price paid - US$141.77

Date - 10th November 2004

Seller - wuxk

Location - China

Buyer - Private

Price paid - US$122.50

Date - 17 November 2004

Seller - cliff*

Location - China

Buyer - Private

Price paid - US$153.50

19th December 2004

Seller - free_coin

Location - China

Buyer - Private

Price paid - US$152.50

Date - 19th February 2005

Seller - e-gold2008
(No longer a registered user)

Location - China

buyer - trance-er

Price paid  - US$60.00

Date - 24th February 2005

Note; same scan as free_coin

Seller - rose_coin
(No longer a registered user)

Location - China

buyer - Private

Price paid - US$115.50

Date - 16th March 2005

Seller - clarke_quay

Location - Germany (acutely in Hong Kong)

buyer - paolo_rossato

Price paid - EUR 71.00 

Date - 18th April 2005

Seller - rose_coin
(No longer a registered user)

Location - China

buyer - Private

Price paid - US$93.50

Date - 21st April 2005

Seller - no_fake_coin
(No longer a registered user)

Location - China

Price paid - Removed after report sent to eBay.

Date - 16th May 2005

Seller - rose_coin
(No longer a registered user)

Location - China

buyer - Private

Price paid - US$64.20

Date - 1st June 2005

NOTE: Seller has used the same  photo as no_fake_coin

Seller - rose_coin
(No longer a registered user)

Location - China

Price paid - Removed after report sent to eBay.

Date - 8th June 2005

NOTE: Seller has used the same photo as his previous auction.

Seller - baijinhai123
(No longer a registered user)

Location - Hong Kong

buyer - Private

Price paid - Item removed after report sent to eBay.

Date - 11th July 2005

Seller - rosettaeast

Location - Hampshire UK

buyer - Seller stopped auction after being advised that the coin was a forgery.

Price paid - withdrawn

Date - 28th December 2005

Seller - villa1970

Location - Berlin Germany

buyer - Seller stopped auction after being advised that the coin was a forgery.

Price paid - withdrawn

Date - 1st March 2006

Weight : 25.40gm

Seller - ram866

Location - Middlebury, VT, USA

buyer - Honest seller removed coin as soon as he was told it was a forgery. 

Price paid - withdrawn

Date - 25th June 2006

Weight :

Seller - tbjuacw

Location - Edison, NJ, USA

buyer - Coin finally withdrawn after being contact twice and putting a report into EBay.

Price paid - withdrawn

Date - 27th June 2006

Weight : 26.3gm

Seller - clarke_quay (also see above item # 3969717290

Location - Says Germany but could be in Hong Kong

buyer - Private

I was the highest bidder. I ask for the weight of the coin and when I was told it was 25.7grams, I informed the sell it was a Fake and did not pay.  

Price paid - did not pay

Date - 28th October 2006 

Seller - prof-numismatics

Location - Yugoslavia

buyer - vassj  - I have contacted the buyer and advised him that this is a forgery.

Price paid - US$132.50

Date - 24th March 2007

Weight :

Seller -lieutenant999
I have contacted the buyer and advised him that this is a forgery.

Location - Yugoslavia
buyer -
Price paid -
Date - 9th November 2007

Weight :

Seller -moneti2000
I have contacted the buyer and advised him that this is a forgery. Also advised EBay, as the seller was notified later he could not withdraw the auctions, but the buyer was advised that the coin was a forgery. EBay ignored my notification.

Location - USA
buyer - marilyn0708 
Price paid - US$142.50
Date - 9th March 2008
Weight :