Ontario man buys $1,800 rare coin in online auction and never receives it

A Scarborough man who collects NFL and boxing memorabilia also invests in rare coins as a hobby and for investment purposes.

When Cresent Chew saw a rare 1948 Canadian silver dollar in an online auction, he decided he had to have it.

“The 1948 Canadian silver dollar is a wonderful coin and when I saw it I decided to bid on it and I was the winner of the online auction,” Chew said.

Chew said after he had the winning bid, he agreed to send the seller Impulse Fine Art Auctions $1,813.

But he has now been waiting for four months and the 74-year-old coin still hasn’t shown up.

"It’s really hard to get a hold of these guys. They had a false phone number on their invoice and I have emailed them about 25 times and they won’t get back to me,” he said.

Chew became concerned when the phone number on the invoice was 123-456-7890 and the Mimico address also on the invoice was a post office box.

Chew used the website HiBid, which is an online auction hosting platform, but the coin was purchased from Impulse Fine Art Auction.

CTV News Toronto reached out to Impulse Fine Art Auction by phone and email but our messages were not returned.

CTV News Toronto also contacted HiBid and while the company did not return our messages, the company told Chew in an email that, “Impulse Fine Art Auction is no longer on our platform. We recommend that you contact local authorities and file a dispute with your bank. We apologize for any inconvenience and stress that might have caused you.”

Chew had been holding out hope he would receive the coin or his money back, but now he says he's not sure he would ever use an online auction again.

"It's an expensive lesson to learn, but what can I do?"

The largest company for online auctions is EBay, which has a good reputation for selling items and collectibles, but no matter which site you use you need research the seller, check their feedback and reviews to try and make sure you'll get your item.