A Quakertown man was charged Monday with defrauding more than 50 people who paid for rare coins auctioned on eBay but never received the merchandise.

Todd Rabenold, 38, was charged with six counts of mail fraud for stealing $18,742 during a two-year scheme, according to the indictment filed Monday by U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan.

The winner of each auction on the popular Web site sent checks to Rabenold, who used several post office boxes in Lansdale. But after receiving payment, the indictment charges, Rabenold never provided any of the advertised items.

The indictment implicates others in the scam, alleging they helped place the auctions on eBay, though no one else has been charged.

The unidentified victims, 53 in all, come from all over the country, from Pennsylvania to New Mexico.

If convicted of all charges, Rabenold faces a maximum sentence of 120 years in prison, three years' supervised release, and a $1.5 million fine.

Meehan charges that Rabenold ran his scam from April 2003 through April 2005, listing auctions for a variety of rare coins, from an 1880 Morgan silver dollar to a 1922 Peace silver dollar.

The fraud is the second prosecution by Meehan involving eBay in recent months. In October, a Lehigh Valley woman was sentenced to three years in prison for scamming 75 people on eBay.

Julie C. Miller, who had addresses in New Tripoli, Hellertown and Breinigsville, collected nearly $70,000 between November 2003 and January 2005 from people who bought items she listed on eBay but never received their merchandise.

The world's largest and most popular Internet auction site, eBay claims 212 million members with listings of 6 million new items daily. Katherine England, a spokeswoman at eBay's headquarters in San Jose, Calif., said instances of fraud are rare, but the company maintains a global anti-fraud team that monitors complaints and, when appropriate, refers them to law enforcement.

England could not say if eBay officials referred the Rabenold case to Meehan.